Do not cut any corners on a prospective property.  

Look up something called Circle Prospecting, you can use it and really zone into where you had your listing.Pick some more ways to generate leads and hammer them out!

Therefore, what investors need to do TODAY, is make decisions on based on today's prices, returns, and future prospects (relative to PV).Hope that made sense.Continued success!

Trust your gut and the math analysis on prospective properties.  

Carpet also holds odors which can be a real turn-off for prospective tenants as well.Figure out who your target tenant is and then install the flooring they want.

and job stability and former verified LANDLORD REFERENCES            ( check tax records to make sure you are talking to the property owner NOT a tenant prospects cousin.Ok,  THE SUMMARY :                                      LOW RISK & COMMON SENSE1.

Do not cut any corners to make something look better.Always do the math analysis and try to look at the prospective properties before you make an offer or at least have a clause in the sales contract that will allow you the time (about15 days) to make a detailed inspection of the property and possibly back out of the deal without a penalty that will hurt you too much.  

Where is the best place to prospect new single family home portfolio and apartment buyers.

I've also gone to the courthouse auctions after researching some solid foreclosure prospects, but the same 3-4 high Roller guys always outbid the little guys.

For me, that time horizon is really long, 10 years is a very long time, in that time you could have sold this crappy property and bought 5 better ones that would be better to rent out.For future prospects, do more in depth valuation on your investment.