I view every property for rent on my street as a competitor and my goal is to crush the competition.

The detached houses are built on narrow streets with large front porches for socializing.

Driver around all the streets and look for vacant houses.

I am looking to rent a place, it seems nice except three thingsthey are ranch style apartments. they have a gate in front of the main entrance, and you're responsible for the door if anything happens to it. for some reason they won't fix it. it actually looks like this but a wooden door in front of the main doorif i take the door down, how concerned should I be about people stealing stuff. if i had a lawn mower or something, they would have to come in the opening and take stuffi saw a report online about some guy that was looking in someones windows at the complex across the street. i dont know how long ago it was. i was looking online again but coudlnt find it. the one im staying at seems fine, how concerned should I be able the ones across from me?

If you want to capitalize on student rentals stay south of North Street in Binghamton.  

Some streets in that neighborhood are okay, and some parts of the area are like a war zone.

Driver around all the streets and look for vacant houses.

I have asked my real-estate agent to supply a list, but I'm wondering if this information is publicly available some where as a database.I guess alternatively I could just drive around my target area on google maps street view and make my own map, but this would take quite a while...Cheers,Tom

While taxes are necessary to keep the country running, property taxes can differ from street to street, so make sure the taxes your tenant/buyer would be paying make sense for the services they would be using. 

If you put 25% down on a duplex the odds are high with one unit empty at 50% occupancy you will have to be putting money in to pay the mortgage each month.With duplexes and quads etc. pay special attention to how the other investors on the street keep up their properties.