The tenant showed me that the drywall in the kitchen ceiling (right below 2nd floor bath) had some soft spot.

Lease options are an effective and beneficial way for sellers to sell and buyers to buy especially in today's soft market.

People that are looking at your property will all too often be criminals and convicted felons.Wow, that's a pretty broad brush you are using there, Mike.Tonja, Whether your potential tenants are "all too often criminals and convicted felons" has a lot to do with the type of properties you choose for your portfolio.

The value someone like me gets from David's postings and videos is an insight into the "soft" aspects of the business.

That being said, one is in Toledo, Ohio which is in a very soft market.

I've had several meetings and casual opportunities with the past Regional HUD Dir. and he spoke softly and carried a big stick but was keen on PR and the political nature of the office as well.So relying on past convictions to form any views on the matter could take years to get a clear picture.

Your mortgage company doesn't care why YOU paid the mortgage late and they don't want to hear about the tenant didn't pay on time so you can't pay on time.I will say that I am a lot less soft than I was when I started out.  

Do you have a strong rental market or soft rental market?

When he brings it up they brush it off and then they keep going up against a brick wall hardly making any money or doing deals.I am licensed as a principal broker and make on average 6 figures per transaction.

If someone gets close enough that I would select them (e.g. all my hard criteria has been passed -- they have a job, they can afford the place, no problems with credit, no criminal/eviction/bankruptcy problems, et al), I then like to perform a soft check on whatever the internet provides me about this person.