LISTEN for opportunities to hang out with them; take them to lunch; do so some odd jobs for them (that you can do well), etc.Ask them questions and LISTEN carefully to the answers.Making friends with the successful investors in your town is no different than making friends with anyone else!

I saw a list somewhere of the top 10 places for renting, and oddly enough Detroit was like 8th or 9th on that list.I have several contacts up in Detroit.

He did not want to make the loan because the house is a one bedroom (but very nice) home and he considered it " odd'.

It's odd, I've had tenants with terrible "credit" who were the best tenants... and I've had them with 700+ scores who I was calling and mailing the 5th of every month, and had all types of trouble with.In either case, the best advice I can give, is when you finally end up with tenants, be TOUGH on them the 1st time they're late.

The only thing I can suggest is to go and have a sit down with a couple of different management companies that specialize in managing vacation rentals and gather some information from them.There are a lot of vacation rentals in my area, but oddly, even though I know a lot of people active in several different areas of real estate, I don't know anyone who has vacation rentals (except for one friend with a B&B, and that's not really the same thing).The only thing I know about vacation rentals is that they are extemely management intensive and the management companies charge a substantial fee.You have turn over every week, and someone has to be there to clean, repair, asses damage, and inventory all the household items.

Oddly enough, they get it sometimes too!

Ah the ole Fannie/Freddie limits, oddly enough I was at a meeting today where we discussed the proper way to invest to avoid that challenge.

You can also try the freelance web pages, they always have people looking for odd jobs to supplement their income.

Nation-You paid 1/3 upfront as in several days before start upon contract signing, or upfront as in when work started.It just seemed odd to pay 1/3 when the contract was signed several days beforehand, the tear off involves little to no materials, just a dumpster rental.

I guess he was working on his own financial bailout.http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?