Here are the big six (6) reasons people leave behind a vacant property: 1) "Skipped" on bills or other people 2) Drugs and alcohol 3) Incarceration 4) Severe mental & emotional problems 5) Senility 6) Death By reverse engineering each vacant property opportunity, talking to neighbors and others in the immediate community, you ought to be able to get a lead on which of the above scenario is most likely.

As long as there’s death disease alcoholism drug use divorce etc.. there will always be deals if you look hard enough

You need to explain how they can solve a problem (getting rid of a house they do not want, can't afford to take care of, is in bad condition, is causing them stress, is a financial liability, may lead to alcoholism, divorce, etc.).Your sellers do not need to see your numbers.

(a) There are exempted from the taxes imposed by this part the gross receipts from the sale of, and the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of, mailing lists, if the contract regarding that mailing list restricts the purchaser to a single use of the mailing list.

Another place was owned by an alcoholic who hadn't cut his grass in 5 years.

Conspicuous consumption can hurt your business especially when it's known that you can't afford it.

It's like snake-oil salesman convinving people that alcohol with a new label will suddenly cure baldness.I rent properties for more than 30 days and less than one year.

In other words, do you spend $X creating a well known brand that pulls customers in without much additional marketing effort/expense, or do you spend that same $X on direct customer acquisition.In industries where customers are potentially repeat customers for life (fast food, alcohol, cigarettes, automobiles), spending that money on brand building is cheaper than spending that money on acquiring the same customers over and over -- that's why these industries put a ridiculous percentage of their profits back into building their brand.In real estate, the "customers" are the sellers -- they generate the income, even if not directly.

Some were excellent for the first couple of jobs but then later turned out to be alcoholic?

I had a roommate who was an Alcoholic, used girl-friend as previous landlord references, and of course, eventually could not pay rent.