In a tenant friendly state you have to.BTW, when you list, there's a fair housing law. you cannot deny a sec 8 if they qualify. your standards need to be the same for everyone

Here are a few additional ideas that have worked for me and others in competitive markets like Austin:Off-Market Leads from Contractors: I had a friend who rehabbed a house in North Austin last year.

Quote from @Zach Rumfield: This particular property might make for a good house for professors or staff at Delta State if anyone has connections to that school.

The tenants are currently in court with a title dispute so the house would have to be paid for cash only.I would like to convert it to a primary residence and turn the garden level into a separate two bedroom apartment for use as an in law suite.

House was built in 1953. 

One thing that's worked really well for me is looking through county deed records of the addresses that the LLC's are being housed under.I'd say 50% of the time the LLC address leads to a residential property, that I can then skip trace. 

Underpriced properties get scooped up within the first week—often before the first open house.

Could you gift the down payment to your mother in law so she can buy it and then transfer title to you when your house is done?

Pick up the book Building Wealth One House at a Time by John Schaub.

Interesting to see how feasible this will be.