It it a lot less time consuming to you as the landlord. 

Interesting how too many consumers think Zillow is the end all be all of their research, when most professionals never use it to look for information. 

It can be as simple as "based on information contained in a consumer credit report" or "based on information received from previous rental history."

Reserve means nothing unless you are the only bidder.Work backwards: 230K retail5% hammer fee+$690 technology fee1% closing cost, you still need a realtor to administer the contract.Renovation: A simple paint job on a modest SFH will eat your $5K.

High demand, little supply of available property for us to build on, and a permitting process that was to time consuming. 

And somehow getting that cash out is always longer, more complicated and time consuming than you anticipate.

I'm a voracious consumer of the BP Podcast and just about every book they've mentioned on there, I find the possibilities of real estate to be absolutely fascinating!

I think there's a fundamental problem with that pay-per-lead approach for us the consumers, I want a contractor that's good and can be recommend by previous customers, not a contractor that spends the most dollars to show up first place on my screen.

HI Roxanne,It is true you need to be in the business for 2 years but no one talks about the details about how that is documented which is either by:- Looking up CA BRE website consumer licensee information which will show how long you've been licensed- CPA letter to sign/date on you being self employed for 2 + years or 5+ years if you're using Freddie Mac's program since Freddie specifically wants 5+ years to use 1 year tax return- or another third party to verify you've been SE (self employed) like business licenses, attorney's, other auditor or licensesWith regards to income like others have mentioned you can use 1 year tax return to base your monthly qualifying income off of.Freddie mac, like mentioned above is a a conventional financing option but the downside with Freddie is they want 5 years in the business as documented with one of the options above.

It would be awesome to get input on those:The lawyer suggested that my partner's capital (used to acquire the property) grows with the consumer price index (CPI).