Zach,I believe @Brian Burke said it best but I will also add to that in brief fashion.

However, I'd imagine that you have to market to find "great deals" you can't really do it in a passive fashion, etc.  

@Michael McKay When it comes to postcards, we use good old-fashioned hand writing.

David, this is a rest way to start it's awesome that you have the family support of your mother and father and this is the same fashion in which I started.

We don’t over improve properties to far above market rate from an investment perspective but we keep our properties well maintained with clean landscaping and fashionable interiors.

In most cases if the tenant is problematic they're typically breaking their lease in some shape form or fashion.

Good old fashioned hob nobbing.

Maybe I am old fashioned though, but I still think nothing beats being able to directly speak or sit with the person who did the diligence on the deal.

Debt in depreciating liabilities - cars, shiny things, fancy clothes, fashion items, etc.

We're generally between $25k and $35k, so we aren't selling pie-in-the-ski numbers)We've sold 30 houses this calendar year, none to newbies and many to repeat customers several times over, so we seem to be justifying our value proposition in some fashion.