Look at their marketing strategy.

Years ago I bought houses for $25k in my market.

There's a reason that people try to buy properties off-market and that is because you can find sellers who care more about terms than maximizing returns.So start with a conversation: you already presumably have some rapport since it's your landlord and you've spoken before.

It sucks but is the best way that I know to hit the fast forward button on your investing journey - especially in the current market.

Since the 10DLC regulations went into place in October 2023, texting is my number 1 marketing channel. 

How is Cleveland market? 

How valuable is this location in that market? 

Study the market.

My last deal was my first off market deal and when I contacted the sellers wife about the deposits she said that that was a given as part of a multi family sale and they’d write me a check at the closing as I requested because money was tight and I didn’t want a credit where I’d have to come up with the funds out of pocket later.

You might be very pleasantly surprised.To conclude, it's great to have more new members like you from Europe contributing to the forum.