Make sure your sign riders give prospects a reason to call, and remember that one property especially a luxury property only appeals to a select few so you have to figure out a way to convert the leads you do get who are buyers and sellers but will rule out your listing for one reason or another. 

You selected a great market to ad to your international investment portfolio, let me know if you need anymore information on the area or just someone to run ideas past.Sincerely,Joseph

Landlording can be a unique challenge sometimes (like 6 inches of snow in one day this week; or last year a large bear tossed a full dumpster into a ditch (hint -- just tow it out with a yellow tow strap, 4 x4 as a ramp and pull with a truck or jeep). 

So, it's not unique to humans.Some folks are negative about everything.

For me reasons include: better able to be a niche salesperson e.g. investors, in a metro area with a lot of opportunities to expand e.g. property management, loving the unique character of the region e.g. historic homes, wide variety of unique amenities, FOOD, and I've put in a lot of hours getting to know the local market.Small towns may have opportunity to dominate the market pretty quickly, but it also doesn't take many agents to oversaturate.

The only caveat is that I expect to be selective on neighborhoods and safety.) 

With those accomplishments you can hit the ground running when your confidence level is attained to execute on your selected niche.http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/02/22/buying-rental-property/ (how to buy a rental property) http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/01/07/flipping-houses/ (step by step guide to flips)https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2015/01/31/ultimate-beginners-guide-real-estate-wholesaling-2/ (Ultimate beginners guide to wholesaling)The bottom line is that you must take action to start.

This is a very unique approach to cost estimating.

Maybe these folks are just super selective on the houses they choose to list...

I'm pretty selective who I connect with (but colleagues with both you and @Russell Brazil - so consider yourselves lucky lol!