I would recommend that regardless of market you decide to invest in that you find a fellow investor/realtor that can help you purchase in the neighborhoods that make for ideal long term rentals.

Other than that, you will need to network with a lot of people to find seller finance deals.

A lot of investors are jumping to secondary lines of insurance coverage and the problem with those is that the companies are based in the Cayman Islands or the Bahamas a lot of the time, and it is suspect that they would actually pay out if the need arose unfortunately.   

Hi Jacob, There are DSCR and Hard Money Lenders that will finance a manufactured home as long as it is not in a rural area, and there is no land lease.

Inheriting it is the best option tax wise- because it gives you a step up in basis to the property's value on that date. 

All of my linens and towels etc. are bought new of course. 

I just received two different verbal offers that I'm willing to accept, but don't want to waste time with someone whose deal may fall through.What are my options to enter into a contract with someone who is qualified?

The thing that you have to remember is that the path of progress and a neighborhood "turning over" moves at a glacial pace.

The problem is that we need to be careful with the word "passive" because it has a very specific meaning in the tax law, and it is not intuitive.For example, losses from rental properties are usually passive but not always, there are some exceptions.

@megan boyle For the price point you are targeting we have had good luck in Eastern CT.