What I do to look for motivated buyer is I go on Zillow and I filter by For Sale by Owner then I look for houses that have been rehabbed and start calling those owners who are fixing and flipping.

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My current agent doesn't seem to have any impetus to do the work necessary to find me a decent deal (I'm not looking for something priced WAY below market value, but I'm at least looking for something that's priced 5% below market value)...

Oftentimes the seller will base the price on current rents and depending how far below market they are you can get a unit that is renting for $1100 that should be renting for $2000 to live in by paying the extra $15,000-$20,000 in relocation assistance, which if you treat it like an increase in purchase price is a pretty good deal. 

Invest as much capital as you can and get them locked in on fixed mortgages below 4% if possible!

.- We only build our LTO's on lots/land we purchased in the recession at below market value.- We have a great relationship with our lender, therefore a very competitive rate. - As developers we can build these in house so we don't have outside builder/developer fee's.We follow a very aggressive strategy on this investment. 

The link below is older but a good starting point.https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2006/12/0...Basically it is still a loan but with a higher interest rate.

The first time I rented out to a handyman, I made the huge mistake of giving him a discounted rent for standard maintenance on the property(changing filters/mowing/snow removal). 

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Gloria,Based on the excerpt below from the TN Business Tax Guide (google this for your reference), operators of residential and non-residential buildings other than hotels, motels, or rooming houses are exempt.