With bad or changing areas I have seen MLS pics that look great and 1 month later the place is destroyed and picked apart.This is why you need a spotter on the ground to tell you what the condition is TODAY.The value of the property and what you could get out of it depends on the ARV value and trending of the surrounding houses.Are all the houses on the street like this or 2 out of 10,5 out of 10,8 out of 10 etc.What are the rents going for and foreclosures selling for?

It would take a while to grow that capital to 100 millionHow many years do you think this debacle will trend?

:D I have seen two trends in regard to this.

Alyn I would look at the annual rent growth trend for the unit mix of your apartments for the location.As I said earlier if supply is low and demand is high you can increase the rents by a bunch and accelerate the CAP.If you are real busy with your job and want turn key then yes you will usually get a smaller CAP for that luxury.As you said for your goals the bigger return isn't as important.At the end of the day it's your life and your investment and money so it's your call.I have some investors that want an 8 cap,some a 12 cap,and some a 16 cap going in.I tell them fine if you want a property needing major work in a war zone.There is nothing in my area in a good location trading at more than a 10 cap period that is in good shape.The reason is other new investors are giddy with a 10% return versus a treasury or CD giving them 1 to 2 % if they are lucky or their stocks are tanking hard.It's just all relative to your investing style as to what will make sense.

Latest news, upcoming trends, permits, inspectors, section 8

It doesn't make distinctions between properties nearly well enough, and operates on a time lagged basis, especially bad in a down trending market.Yes, get long term fixed rate conventional financing.

Personally I think the stock market has become so corrupt and unregulated since the Internet blew up that the only way to really make money in it is to trade macro trends.

Lease options is the "hottest" REI strategy today in light of the very soft real estate market.

Rail traffic has dropped off with the economy, but is trending back up.

Are you noticing a similar trend in your investment areas?