I'm in the hudson valley and the same houses have been on the market for ages.  

Look for agents that do.

they take the value of the land, which they determine from land sales, add what it costs to build the building, and deduct the "depreciation" (ie adjust for age and market conditions) An example of non- age depreciation would be having a silo on a farm where all the local farmers have changed their system to bunk storage) Ie the Silo may have cost $20K to build, and it may be brand new, but the cost to operate it is much higher than using a skidsteer to drive through the barn with scooped up cow food.I digress,So that's the tax assessment process, but all the tax assessors is worried about is the value of your property RELATIVE to other properties that they are taxing.

Just trying to plan ahead :).Thanks, Dan Dietz I wrote a couple articles that might help about the above that pertain to conventional financing but at the end of the day it depends on what time of financing you're looking for.Conventional lenders and normal residential lenders use debt to income as a measure to qualify while commercial and portfolio lenders use debt service ratio.10 Best Practices in 1-4 Unit Investing for Agency/Conv.

Appraising is harder to get into too, hours are required under an appraiser need to be fulfilled before you're on your own.I'd say agents can make more faster.Best to talk to local appraisers and agents if you want to train in either, you could be an agent and then move to appraising, a natural progression.As to investing, an appraiser has an edge, you do realize that RE school for agents is usually the first part of the appraisal avenue.....:)

Hi, i have been in BP for the past 3 months.I am going about finding my first deal on HUD.Looking for Agents registered with HUD to work closely with.As well as to partner up with investors in all states on future deals.I aim to own a multi-family unit every year, do at least 3 flips/month starting out, participating in sheriff's sale from april 2014 & be a landlord in the future.I have participated in programs like dohardmoney.com, buyersOnFire & UStaxlienassociation.

Hi BP,I'm actually looking for agent from all states to work with to bid on HUD properties.

Get rid of the guru books and start out in the very beginning with RE text books used in RE classes for Agents and RE 101 College text books, anyone who can read at a 9th grade level can study the basics.After that you can look at strategies and mailing out your yellow or colored letters.

Vacant units Not paying into the hoa are the ones that owners are in default with there lender.Watch out for agents selling you garbage.  

@Bryan Neal I recommend looking for agents who are BP members.