BiggerPockets also has a calculator to analyze deals, and I highly recommend you start this as soon as possible, even if you are not ready to buy.

I have had this goal of buying my first duplex and have talked to real estate investors, realtors, lenders, appraisers and have been encouraged so much to where I am anxious to dive into this.Now that I am 18 I have absolutely no debt, a credit score of 727, I have 28k sitting in a certificate of deposit, a couple years of working consistently under my belt, I’ve also been investing in my Roth IRA, I feel very blessed to be in this situation.I am still in high school, I know it wouldn’t be smart to buy a house right now but something in me is so anxious to buy this house I know I have to have patience but I don’t know if I should start the process of getting pre approved, finding a good investor friendly realtor, lender, preparing my documents or if I should just wait.When analyzing deals in my market I have crystal clear real estate deal criteria my strategy is house hacking a duplex, price range of 500,000-600,00 in Salt lake, Utah! 

If you use any of the major mailhouse services, like Yellow Letter HQ (a service I can personally vouch for), they offer a variety of templates and even provide text suggestions.A smart way to analyze this strategy is by observing people in your local market who use mailers and identifying what works or doesn’t work for them.The simplest and most effective way to test this approach is to pull a hyper-targeted list of distressed homeowners and run a small-budget mailer campaign.Hope this helps!

Be sure to check out the free tools BP provides to help analyze deals you may have and also market insights.

I am new to real estate investing and have just started analyzing deals.

I’ve helped plenty of investors navigate these tricky tax and management questions, especially with properties in popular STR markets like Phoenix and Austin.Good luck with the purchase—sounds like you’ve got a great opportunity on your hands! 

Some key pointers so that your operations go smoothly:Underwriting: Don’t shy away from the process of analyzing hundreds of deals before finding one that fits your criteria.

So it really comes down to how each investor analyzes risk -- the key for those who are passive is --> make sure you account for the risk.

I’m already aware of the popularity of Joshua Tree and Lake Tahoe, so I’m interested in hearing about other markets that are strong performers and investor-friendly in terms of regulations.Does anyone have insights on:Specific cities or regions where the permit process is more straightforward?

So even popular rent estimate tools seem a little inflated unless you're outpeforming the competition with what youre offering.