It's those maniacs that buy homes cash via quit claim deed off of craigslist that really get screwed.Make sure your property manager is a licensed real estate brokerage.Understand you can not eliminate all risk, only mitigate it.

Work things out with people with good communication and respect you can probably eliminate a lot of bad juju.

This eliminates so many problems for you at the get, because you will have absolutely no problem finding a cash buyer (or an equity based loan if you need to close on the property) at that price.So, to get started, you have to wake up every morning with the intention of going out and buying a house at 65% actual value or less.

One is that when you are highly leveraged, if the economy turns and you can't cover your bills because you lost your job, can't pay that mortgage while it's vacant or have multiple vacant properties, you are not in a great position and are likely to lose it all.On the other hand, if you are either a) not highly leveraged, using cash instead so you have no payments to make in a worst case situation or b) you have moderate leverage that is balanced with hefty cash reserves that you can use to carry your operations for years to come or even pay everything off...thus suddenly eliminating the risk you carried previously, then you are in a much better position.

Hi Patrick,Unfortunately you won't find many driven real estate professionals in Toledo that have a sense of urgency lolThis can be a double edge sword in the way that it's hard to get things done efficiently but it also eliminates most competition because you can just beat everyone to the punch (Just like we have been doing for 5 years now).I suggest you check out the Five Points area (43612 and 43613 zip code).$55,000 - $75,000 properties that will rent for $600 - $800 per month.This pocket has been our sweat spot for many years now and I don't think that anyone has bought more properties than us in the area lolYou will find decent tenants that tend to stay and pay and low volatility with not many evictions.That's my 0.02 Aussie cents :)I wish you much success

Other posts on BiggerPockets have pointed out that during The Great Recession, banks were cutting back or eliminating credit lines.

Seems as though you are creating the vacancy by eliminating a large portion of potential applicants.

Working at my current 1099 less than two years eliminates my ability to get a loan from a bank.

If this is something that doesn't matter to you (to have the survey done and the property corners staked) then it's a good thing to eliminate.

With a C-Corp, however, there is a tax treaty that eliminates this problem.