I also need to spruce up the landscaping as it doesn't pop to the passer-by.I keep telling myself that the upgrades will save money by renting the property faster, but this is a rationalization that is impossible to measure because I have no rental history.

I was just wasting money by the THOUSANDS $$$$ creating "yellow junk mail".It's like having a website with tons of traffic but going broke because no one is buying.Response rate is one of the most overrated statistics in marketing, it can be an important measurement in the big picture, but response rate doesn't pay the bills.

Another great one is What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know about Cash Flow and 36 Other Key Financial Measures by Frank Gallinelli.

As I hear day after day about rising prices and the biggest jump in real estate price indeces since 2006, I wonder how much of the measured increase is not actually due to an improvement in the market, but due to physical improvements in many of the properties being sold. i.e., How much has the mix of the condition of properties sold contributed to decreases and increases in real estate price indeces (e.g., Case/Shiller) throughout the economic cycle?

What measures can I take to ensure this guy doesn't take any of my business away?

Just trying to plan ahead :).Thanks, Dan Dietz I wrote a couple articles that might help about the above that pertain to conventional financing but at the end of the day it depends on what time of financing you're looking for.Conventional lenders and normal residential lenders use debt to income as a measure to qualify while commercial and portfolio lenders use debt service ratio.10 Best Practices in 1-4 Unit Investing for Agency/Conv.

Personal loans from the credit unions - not really difficult to getTitle your car if its paid off and it has equity --Ive done this 3 times with the same car - again not really difficult to getIve had lower credit, so I had to go for loan products that are easier to obtain than more stringent ones, as well as properties that are lower priced to fund them.

And 36 Other Key Financial Measures is just one place behind in 4th place.

When asked why sellers always say they don't want to deal with the property and the issues associated with such measures.

The Bay Area has some of the most stringent tenant right laws in the country.