Note that this is all preliminary but I think I can get away with buying for $450-500K.

It is at a cost of $40 per adult.For Tenant, after showing if they are interested in signing a lease: 1.Fill out preliminary application.2.Verify application for 3 times monthly rent income, pay stubs, no felony, no evictions, at least 1 year on job.3.Query all adult names in state Courts Online system.4.Query Facebook.5.Query County Assessor page for properties in their name (foreclosure?)

From my preliminary research I have determined Jersey City and Yonkers to be the best cities for cash flow within 30 minutes of Manhattan.

@Mike CumbieYes this is basically what I'm learning in this third day of preliminary negotiations with this one particular bank. 

Usually you get the exact cost once you get a title company to provide a preliminary HUD.

I'm still in a preliminary stage, but of course I am wondering why the seller needs to sell after 6 months. 10 year call on a 30 year amortization at 4.845%.

I have had deals that I have spent 100’s of hours in and essentially not make a penny because I gave my partner the returnsLook at it another way - i would wager the “average” investor targets acquisitions around $20,000.

What rules of thumb do you use for your preliminary "deal or no deal" analysis of a property?

More news from Wall Street JOurnal todayWall Street is betting that more well-off Americans will want to be renters.Financiers who loaded up on homes after the housing bust for pennies on the dollar are buying yet more—despite home prices in many markets being at all-time highs.Their wager: High prices, higher mortgage rates and skimpy inventory are making homeownership harder.

I'd wager the major VA colleges -- VT, UVA, VCU, etc -- are well saturated with investors.