In the process of building a direct mail campaign and I'm wondering if anyone has thoughts on whether it makes a difference in targeting absentee owners in a town which is more in a rural, family community versus a town closer to the city.

I sell many properties to realtors because they control many of the large cash buyers in a city.

From commercial to government (city and state) agencies, non-for-profits, schools and residential all in one city block.

Houston is a great city for RE investing.

Glad to have you here :) Be sure to set up some Keyword Alerts for stuff you might be interested in or maybe your local city name.

I would look into your city and state codes, but in my experience when i installed a gas fireplace in my property instead of lining it with a new flue i simply installed a new b vent chimney inside the old brick one, and my water heater also was vented though the old brick as well with a 3" b vent, if you would like to bypass the old chimney all together and cap it (bug prevention) look into new 95% effecent furnaces, they are vented in PVC and can be vented out through side walls, they also make power vent water heaters if you did not want to convert to electric.

.-2011 graduate of Grove City College (BS in entrepreneurship)-Previously worked at a private equity firm-Passionate about startups and hope to start a business in the future-Enjoy brewing beer with friends and reading non-fiction booksAnyone else out there from Pgh?

You probably already know that Midtown is a growing area in the city.

I have been investing in the city and in the surrounding area for several years and I typically get returns better than the general 1% & 2% that I see people mention in regards to residential property in these forums.

And if at the end of the day you can't find good deals there, don't be scared of venturing into other cities if you are talking about rental properties.