I remember when I first got into real estate nearly 100 years ago, I had a very wise broker that opened my eyes with a very simple comment.

:-/Ideally, I'd love to use the county public record as the initial basis, as that would be the highest number, resulting in the highest depreciation deduction.What's the correct thing to do here?

Everything is in good condition, they just don't want to be landlords anymore and would like the best price they can get for their house, ideally without having to put it on the market from out of state.After recently reading @Brandon Turner's "Investing With No/Low Money Down," I got the idea for a lease option, and would very much appreciate any feedback, insight and thoughts!

When all the viewer has to do is click a button to say "I'm interested in your listing, when can I see it,"  they don't have much invested and usually don't even remember which houses they sent messages about. 

If anybody would like to give me a new route, New suggestions, New ideals any mentors that would like to help me connect the dots in the Atlanta area feel free to comment... 

It's great to hear that the method works and can be used for multiple properties.What's the thing you remember most about investing in the first property?

Ideally, as you progress as an investor, you will qualify based on your tax returns.

Remember that must PM companies hire licensed and insured people to do the job, but a handyman with no license or insurance that just came from the Day labor pool??!!!!!

Ideally there would be a way to work some cash flow into this deal to offset loans or ultimately provide an additional source of income for them in their retirement.Having poked around on BP for a while and listened to copious podcasts, I have come up with a rough strategy:Get home equity loan on existing property for around $300-$400KUse loan money for 20% down payment on two properties: one SFR for them somewhere cheaper in the SGV like Rosemead or El Monte, and one multifamily for us to house-hack within 30 minutes or so of downtown (El Sereno, Highland Park, USC area, Inglewood?)

@Laith Ali there are numerous ways to protect yourself from a bad contractor, now remember that not all contractors are bad.