Tyler, knowing what the interns and residents were going through we tended to give them some benefit of the doubt.
BTW i just finished reading a post by one of my favorite post person's Paul Moore.
https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/evaluate-...
and
https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/3-ways-ad...
https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/beat-the-...
and his book
https://www.wellingscapital.com/the-perfect-invest...
He is way up the chain in MFP investing but I highly recommend reading his stuff. He is a funny writer too. Lots of brilliant ideas and ways of thinking.
Marketing: some of the local realtors can have heads up on new leads for small MFPs and that can potentially be more efficient. There are a lot of them in Roanoke. Mail marketing is useful. Craig's list can be a good resource. Both filtering for sales and advertising that you are wanting to buy. Better than mail, just call the Craig's list listings, newspaper ads, or the landlord's you find in those little booklets found at grocery stores for apartment units. You speak directly to landlords with empty units. Do follow-up calls on those every 3 to 6 months to see if their mind has changed. In marketing in general follow-up is critical in everything you read about it. It gives you credibility as an actual buyer and more likely to get yes responses. If you are time crunched to make calls, look into using VA's (virtual assistants, read Virtual Freedom: How to Work with Virtual Staff to Buy More Time, Become More Productive, and Build Your Dream Business Chris Ducker Sold by: Amazon.com LLC ) to make your initial calls. You just talk to the interested parties your VA's find for you.
Another good option is looking up court records for evictions. Might find some disgruntled landlords. Just some ideas. Also, don't forget to look into making offers that include seller financing options too. Read up on that.
Disclosure. I am an relatively newer investor, about 4 yrs now. I have rehabbed 3 properties in the Roanoke area which turned into rentals. (clue: The older homes in Roanoke alway have hidden problems, lot of them water related. Also old crumbling sewer pipes, watch out for "jerry rigged" electrical too.) Fourth property is a MFP in rehab process. I started out wanting to be a flipper but now like the landlord thing better. Since your investment plan was not intending to be fast cash, this may make more sense for you as well. I am looking to do MFP exclusively going forward. Flipping returns have declined nationwide over the past few years. MF Rentals are a much more efficient way to do cash flow! They are also less affected by market downturns than SF investing. Home ownership is at an all time low and more people are renting than buying. There is a little turn around on that but don't foresee a huge change in that trend. There is some discussion of slowdown in rental rate increases, especially in larger markets, that's where value add comes in to stay competitive. Need to do market research regularly as an investor and landlord.
Tyler, I look forward to hearing how things are going with you. Stay in touch.
