We always meet the appraiser at the property with an explanation of the improvements we have completed.

I do not personally use him based soley on the fact that the firm is virtual.

Is anyone out there willing to be boots on the ground in Cleveland particularly old Brooklyn to check out the condition of a property?

@Jon D. some questions, the answers may help you better focus.1) Why did you pay your primary mortgage off in the first place?

It’s in the expense section.

The houses are just a commodity. 

As the cash flow is obviously much worse than you can earn in the bank with a basic CD.

The tenant then decided to vacate the property and leave a mess in the process.

There are two types of return from a rental propertyCash Flow & Appreciation.I normally also aim for a minimum of 8% return between Cash-Flow and Appreciation.Appreication, nationally, is around 2% to 3% annually.Therefore, your goal is to get the cash-flow to be about 5% to 6%.The issue is interest rates being very high, you would therefore, need to buy at a pricepoint where the numbers still make sense.You can always put down more of a downpayment to cash flow, but that will impact your cash on cash return calculations.Best of luck!

The usual way, but not the right way, to try to buy a rental is by finding a property on the MLS, where agents congregate, make an offer and then try to get financing to buy the property.