It's in their blood.

There are a lot of off-market deal opportunities which may produce better results than using zillow, realtor, MLS, etc.Be aware that with an FHA loan you will be paying mortgage insurance throughout the entire span of the loan, unlike other loans where the mortgage insurance stops after a certain percentage of the principal has been paid off.Prepare yourself with some financial homework on the properties you are looking at and how much ROI you are going to get and be ready to pull the trigger.Also be very aware that Massachusetts is a tenant friendly state with almost seemingly unfair laws 'against' landlords so it is best to be aware of the Massachusetts Tenant and Landlord Laws and have a very good tenant screening process. 

Easy, I keep a spreadsheet of their water usage and I screen my tenants well.

I actually had an applicant that was going through the screening process with the HOA of my community request to withdraw the lease agreement.  

You can send 10,000 postcards with a poorly screened list and a badly crafted message and be very disappointed.  

Iff you are buying rental units it is not favorable to buy a single family home that is occupied by a tenant that has not been through your screening process.  

The bonus room could be storage or maybe a 3-season living area with screens and access to the backyard if that makes sense but must be finished.

It doesn't charge for rent collections and is a very easy tool for application screening and property management.

I always thought I did a good job of screening, gut checking, red flag observing – the usual seasoned Landlord stuff.

Here are a few I see:Pros for Rehab: You get to see and correct the condition of the house immediately, you get to screen your tenants before giving them the keysCons for Rehab: time and $$ in rehab work, no income until you can find tenants for itPros for Tenants: Income right away and no need for immediate rehab (hopefully)Cons for Tenants: Do due diligence to ensure income-generation (evaluate lease and rent details), mystery quality tenants, unable to fully inspect house conditionWhere would you begin?