I've chosen to go with nicer neighborhoods as local investors and property management companies have pushed me in that direction.

Although I plan to eventually employ a hybrid model, a couple primary reasons that I have chosen to pay cash is that it essentially reduces purchase price and ongoing costs as well as often you can obtain an overall lower purchase price .  

But for many REOs, as @Jon Holdman states, the seller may want you to use the title company they are already working with since they have already paid for the title work that has been done.One issue you may encounter is that the title company the REO asset manager has chosen most likely will not allow same day back to back closings using transactional funding.

Put them at market, if they leave find a new tenant before they move out and reap the benefits of full market and a tenant you have chosen yourself.The purpose of being in business is to make money.

For me, in Oklahoma, we do not experience high appreciation rates and for that reason I have chosen to leave the single family rental game in my past and begin to focus exclusively on multi family deals.

My goals are to cover expenses first, then replace my income, and be capable of having no job by 40, I am 33 now and will always want a job, i just set a 7 year goal to achieve that so that I can enjoy time with my wife and future kids, and take care of our family and circle of friends if ever needed in emergency.Overall these two funds were chosen because MHP's are typically more recession proof and safe.

What sort of list have you chosen to mail to?

Get that degree and go to your chosen field and then do this on the side.

I have chosen to list my STR on Airbnb.

I know I still have lot of research to do before I can talk intelligently about any of the un-conventional options, so I haven't chosen a particular path I want to go down at this point.The main reason I'm asking is because there are some turn of the century, mixed use, properties I'm looking at with retail space below and apartments above.