Stop hanging out with your deadbeat buddies who spend all day drinking, talking sports, and otherwise wasting away.

These can be great for making initial connections and learning about specific markets.Since you're thinking long-term, consider spending some time in your target markets to build relationships with agents, property managers, and contractors.

After spending the past two years learning the ins and outs of underwriting and analyzing deals, I’m ready to take the next step and acquire my first multifamily property (20+ units).I’m looking to connect with like-minded investors who are interested in partnering on this journey.

To the nuts and bolt question of what defines occupancy, it is the place you reside and spend the majority of your time/nights.

I'm not opposed to spending the money and have a demo scheduled with them this week, but was curious if anybody else has other data providers that they like better for more niche areas of distress such as bankruptcy, probate, divorce, code violations etc. that I can stack with my current data.I have submitted right-to-know requests with the local counties but only certain information is available and can be cumbersome.

In the end, it would have made more sense to hire a couple handymen for a week or two than me spending 3 weeks installing flooring, base and case.

Stop hanging out with your deadbeat buddies who spend all day drinking, talking sports, and otherwise wasting away.

Yes this method only works if #1 You make more money than you spend#2  You are willing to spend less than you make.#3  it works because people don't have discipline to pay their mortgage beyond the minimum.  

@Colin Ford Spend a good amount of time building your team in Florida.

Even if a software is free or cheap, it's the time investment getting things set up and then tweaking it for the first few months that is the real "spend".