Are people just doing the appreciation play these days?  

@Darrcelle McGinnis wow, I should play the lottery today:)Couple of thoughts:1) Don't burn a bridge with the contractor friend.

Jack Bosch and a lot of the land flipper guys who teach it like to have their students buying in the high deserts and remote areas of the Western US  or in FLA like le High Acres etc. this is were cheap land is and land that gets traded constantly at tax sales.. the play for most of them is really simple.buy at tax sale or with direct mail.. for a few grand  re-market them for more and sell on terms and collect monthly payments.. 

I wonder if these are like pay day loans super high interest.. does anyone know what the interest rate is.. that could be the play.. be the lender on these deals :)

Unless your planning on doing to this in your forever home, it seems like a very risky play. 

Timing does play a role here and you may just want to hedge your position, start the cash flowing, and then revisit a higher rent when the market is humming.Hope this helps...

But given availability of capital and credit, I most likely will not jump on something that is that low because I only have so many hands that I can play at any given time and cannot tie myself up on mediocre deals.

I think there are other options at play with a potential cash out refi, acquiring a 2nd property while keeping the 1st, or even selling to acquire a 2-4 unit property instead of single family. 

Madison - strong appreciation play, but negative cash flow without a unicorn deal or major cash down. 

Agent search is a scam, it's just pay to play.