I try to look for opportunities where the rent roll is depressed a bit because the owner hasn't done some updates or there's functional obsolescence of which I can figure out how to remove it.

Remember he's selling in a down market - prices are depressed.. dah!

You have to plan for it and calculate it as a cost of doing business, or, when it happens, you will get depressed.

The depression babies have been bailing out there baby boomer kids.

If I lost my house because I just lost my job, I have to feed three kids and my wife cannot stop eating twinkies all day long because she is depressed, being able to stay in my home and just pay rent, is not a bad idea.Sometime I feel that we are no different then the teacher's union or the nurses union or the UAW.

Instead, since the area is so depressed, I opted for the payout.

My tools are always spread all around the inside of a house, and the house is a mess anyway (I typically only buy depressed properties).

I just don't understand why Americans get on the bandwagon when things are so competitive & run for the hills when things are so depressed.

Friends of ours have offered to lease our property so we don't have to sell in this depressed market.

I passed on all of those areas.Go outside the city to the outlining counties and you can land much better properties as I said in better areas for 900 rent at 55k that will bounce back nicely when the market turns back for appreciation.The low income areas will still be depressed with high crime and will have little to no appreciation.I would rather put into 1 better property than 3 that are in suspect areas.