Actually I am from Cleveland, just on the other side of the world now which makes things slightly more difficult lol.

If your mortgage balance is $160,000 then you could get a home equity loan for $80,000. 

What is usually done on pre-foreclosure services you make a price which includes their balance owed whether it is County Property Tax, Mortgage payments, or somebody else. 

My fear is that not all college kids' parents are going to make 3X the monthly rent of a 3 BR unit, and therefore it may be difficult to find three qualified cosigners. 

@Ian Kurela, if you attempt to quit claim a mortgaged property to an LLC, the mortgage company may "call" your mortgage, or in other words, make the entire balance due and payable immediately.

I was using Credit Bureau Associates who have recently moved/consolidated with TenantAlert.Have the option of running, criminal background and identity fraud checks.Have the option of  paying for it myself or applicant to pay.I get the credit score, account types open, closed, payment history, status of accounts, balances, etc. 

It's difficult to find properties close to Boston that meet the FHA limits.

(Side Note: if you really want to jump your credit score in a few months (because it takes time for the reporting to update), and if your disciplined with your spending try this;1st) I went and did the math to see what my positive cash flow each month off my active income (let’s say you’ve got $500 left over after you go through your monthly spending avg. which is all you kick out vs what you bring in)2nd) Go get a credit card with 0% interest for 12mths with NO higher than 5% transfer fee.( their are some with low as a 0% transfer and I had got that one on my 2nd round cause my credit wouldn’t let me at first)3rd) do a transfer balance after 24- 48hrs of opening the card (Nope you don’t need wait to actually get the card just call in and tell them over the phone to send a Blanche transfer check to your bank account in the amount of your car Balance; because you’ve only got a 30day window of transfer with 0% interest for the 12mths)4th) PAY YOUR CAR OFF IN FULL, and take your old car note (let’s says it $450mth) plus your $500 positive cash each month and add all $950 each month to pay against the balance on the card5th) in 45days start checking your CreditKarma app (its free) and don’t worry about the 5% if it’s larger than your car loan % because once you’ve paid your car off your score will go up and in a couple months of $950 your car will be paid OFF not in 2more years or so...Thus saving you probably more than $2,000 in interest on the car loan (so you get to keep $$) and time in payments.Your saving money on interest (keeping it in your pocket thus making your pocket bigger!

While variable, my income is solid, and I'd like to put that some of that money to work in real estate investments.What I've realized through my research, however, is that it's going to be difficult to secure conventional financing as a self-employed person.

I have a long list of potential cities, but am having a difficult time narrowing that list down using any sort of consistent standards.