While I agree that open houses aren't necessary (and potentially dangerous as no control over who walks in), I would avoid any agent who hasn't returned your call in over a week (or 24 hours, for that matter).

If I were to take my cash and buy rental properties, I could probably generate 15-20% annualized returns working fewer than 5 hours/week.

I can't believe this turned into a thread where you feel compelled to justify keeping part of the building intact that is dangerous to the point of making the structure uninsurable.  

Whenever we then need to make more updates, we take the current file in dropbox (which probably has been updated by the other person) and copy it over our local desktop copy.There is the disadvantage of needing to communicate by text/phone/email to be sure you are not both updating at the same time, resulting in two different new copies, and subsequently one overwriting the other.This would probably be much more difficult to manage between more than 2 people, and there is always the danger of overwriting previous work if you are not careful.

I don't want to assume too much.Having a nice chunk of cash like 200k is both a blessing and a curse.The blessing is that you have the resources available to make many choices.The danger and curse is that it is too easy to rely on the cash more than on further developing your skill set & creativity.

That way I'm more hands-off and with fewer headaches.Good luck!

My latest tenure ended August 2010. (2)The Nominating Committee determined that "it was best to eliminate some of the nominations and go with fewer candidates

Some methods may have fewer return, but it only takes one to make it worth it.Think of it as an investment in you and your business.My first property, I invested in a $35 program, and about $100 for letters on letterhead, stamps, business cards, etc...

Most have 2% point caps per re set as well, so no danger of any loan going from 5% to 12% over night!

There is typically a fee for each inspection and each draw, so fewer will save you money.