We are a couple of late-20s full-time working stiffs who want to get started in the buy and hold space.Motivated by @Brandon Turner's podcast stories, we think a house hack may be our best bet to start off. 

If you follow the Public Trustee auctions, they are few and far between with stiff competition bidding them up (Only one foreclosure in Larimer County this week, 2 in Weld County).

Who stiffs the landlord before the hospital or doctor? 

On the MLS most area's have a really stiff fine if they catch the agents giving out login info, I routinely use Zillow then drop back to realtor.com for more info as it has pretty much all the information except for the disclosure paperwork.

I started out in the lower market in the South MPLS area but the competition was too stiff for my liking.

This entire job was mismanaged by you the property manager, the contractor replaced the plywood, don't stiff him on the cost of the plywood.

That leaves me with just the deposit to cover rent, cleaning, and repairs, which will result in a loss.If the tenant pays rent June 4th and I give them notice to vacate 30 days later on July 4th, I've already got rent money for the month of June so they can only stiff me four days of rent in July.

I've had a couple of these where they stiff their outgoing land lord and then still expect me to rent to them. 

Make sure you get the payoff amount, the lien amounts etc to be able to determine if its a deal or not. in some states specifically the west coast .. its illegal to help folks in foreclosure if your not a licensed foreclosure consultant.. and penalties are very stiff.. for the reasons Lydia described..

If any of the locks are stiff, lubricate them - my locksmith recommended "Tri Flow" spray, which I used to good effect.If the house has a garage door opener, gather all the remotes you have, tell the opener head to forget all the remotes, and then learn in the ones you have.