Everyone travels with their own luggage and tends to keep their clean clothes in the luggage or hang clothing in a closet.

.- Look for stale listings of cheap vacant lots that tend to fit that criteria. - Buy a bunch of them. - Lose out on most (now you're stuck with that vacant lot that, if you go sell it, will be a stale listing with little/no interest), win on a few, and hopefully the wins offset those losses. 

but these strategies tend to be higher risk and not for beginners.one way to split the difference is to serially house hack. 

(amex tends to operate more than just a credit card)

Is there a generic rule anyone follows that tends to work?

Things tend to happen around a foreclosure so it's not impossible.

They tend to work in more established neighbourhoods that are safer with a good, reliable tenant pool and they are a newer management group that is younger and well connected to the area today, using a lot of the latest technology to assess opportunities.

If you buy Premium properties they tend to stay booked regardless and protected by the equity due to higher end markets. 

Once you have the cash and are ready to invest that tax advantage tend to be extremely favorable. 300k liquid is great place to start. 

I don’t do the cash back ones as I tend to go for miles and points.I just booked 2 1/2 weeks in Europe for me and my better half.