Overall I was nervous naturally because of the uncertainty of everything lately, but felt confident in my last year of research and remember feeling this same way when buying my first rental.Taking the leap is the hardest part.Lastly, know that the "money printer go brrrr" as the internet has said, I do not think the government is going to stop stepping in to help get America through this, people are saving 33% more and incomes are actually up substantially due to government checks.

That would be akin to a snake eating its own tail.Too much time on the internet can definitely lead to confusion on these topics.  

I've come across a couple of properties that seem to be vacant and through some internet sleuthing I've determined that the owner is absent.

Updated internet system - great.  

so...a long, long time ago, in the days before the internet they used to do "foreclosure" or "trustee" sales on the court house steps. 

First, i would not furnish the places, it will probably get trashed, let them get there own furnishings and make sure that the lease says they must remove them from the property when they leave. i would have them pay for utilities, to an extent - have them pay for electric, supply the heat but give them an allowance for certain amount of months ( especially if you have older furnaces and they run on oil heat ) if they go over then you charge them for it. i converted mine to gas with new furnaces, i include heat in mine, but i control the thermostat ( online, thermostat is locked at the house ). i also provide water / sewer and free internet.

BP is quite possibly the greatest free resource to help you get started in the real estate investment world that there is on the internet.

Hi,   I am new to REI, and have been researching a lot over internet and BP!.

Asking price: $245,000 - reasonable for the areaEstimated Monthly Rent under current leases: $2500.00 - on the low side of the range for the area but the tenant base is long term and stableAnnual Taxes: $5000Annual Insurance - Unknown/information requestedUtilities - Unknown/information requestedBuilding Owner pays for alarm monitoring,electric and water bills - have asked for monthly cost averages but do not have yet.Individual tenants pay their own internet and phoneDescription: 2400 sqft, brick building with a 10 space parking lot, good location Known upcoming repair is HVAC for the downstairs (est $5k), upstairs HVAC has already been replaced.Thank you for your time as well as your opinion on this deal, recommendations for additional questions, additional information etc. 

its suspect for sure.private money is just that some person you know .. not met on line .. trying to find private money on line is no more or less than internet dating.. who knows who you are meeting.any lender that wants points and super low rate is suspect on its face.. just not the real world..