@Ky Sharp - generally speaking you'll need 1 onsite leasing agent and 1 maintenance person per 100 units.

i Agree with @Ashley Pimsner for the most part. getting involved here an bp is a great start. i just started woking with an investor as a private investor and he is sharp already as a real estate investor and his criteria is more defined then my own and i think it has to e to protect himself. it makes me work harder to find better deals than what i would normally would, meaning i would pay 1k for a deal if i can still hit a certain cash-flow but he wont budge. the reason tells me is that 'you don't want to owe on it forever' which makes sense. on one deal an extra 1500 cost another ten month of payments!

I have had a stroke and am cotillion recovering and I have a pretty sharp mind still.  

I would like to say it was my sharp intellect- deep foresight - and mastery of the market - instead it was timing and good luck - I was liquidating them to start up a new business that had nothing to do with real estate -  shortly afterwords the market came crashing down  - we did still own one SFR - the only SFR  I ever owned and it was completely underwater - we could not keep up the payments on it and it would not sell for anywhere near what owed on it - however we did leverage the heck out of it just before the sky started to fall so got some money out of it at least.

Great post Jason - That is sharp drop in real estate priced in gold.

Eddie is a sharp guy, and makes good money wholesaling, he just won't be trying on my short sale.

Rick,Great post,could not agree more with your points on speculation.One thing a person has to do is keep a sharp eye on the stock market.

Stay sharp and smart and it really doesn't matter what the climate is.

If you're sharp enough to have gotten fixed rate financing, rent will increase with inflation while the mortgage stays a fixed currency dollar amount no matter what that currency is "worth".

The mortises for the hinges can be done with a sharp wood chisel and a hammer, and for the door knob, you will need a hole saw for the drill, and a spade drill bit.