State and local laws may prohibit this, but this may be an interim strategy.In any case, part of the real, future value of the property, other than simply filling up vacant lots, might also revolve around the new owner (maybe that will be you) buying up cheap manufactured homes, placing them on the vacant lots, then renting both land and home.

We are smaller scale.

Also, when repairs are needed, they are usually much cheaper through the management company because of their "economy of scale" factor. 3) Where to search for property?

What you are buying will determine to an extent what kind of structure you can put in place.If you are talking about buying a small house because you cannot get yield where you are at then you might want to be from a turn key operation that have management and maintenance built in.I have many clients from California but they are buying commercial real estate or larger apartment buildings so everything is built in for scale.

Mortgage Brokers were just handed a whole new batch of regulations through Fannie Mae, effective Jan. 1 (It's become more strict/difficult to get loans in some cases).FHA just scaled back their loan limits.

(Ignoring cap rate compression, and assuming rents are already at market levels, and that the seller's managing expenses well)On the flip side, getting a loan for a 100% occupied property from a bank is easier than a non-performing asset(considering that I'm a foreign national and getting financing is already hard enough), and there's an easier transition into the apartment world for someone who hasn't worked on that scale before.What are your opinions?

Thanks for your responses guys, I am not going to let it deter me though, the one on Tuesday will hopefully be a bit like a real meeting, and I will call and quiz the other place to see if the "Membership fee" was for the "academy" or for the REIA, among other curiosities.Keep replying folks, I seem to have cornered the market on small scale gurus here in MD.You know, this guy may have a real good system to share, and it may be worthwhile if applied, I am just taken back by the "club" mentality for lack of a better word to describe.

Certainly economies of scale are of value, but I have to say that, even with a 40 markup on construction cost estimate and the project taking 2 extra months, the numbers work.

For instance, the hardwood floors are not too bad (I'd give them a 6 on a scale of 1-10).

Type in different terms (pre fab housing, modular, manufactured housing, etc.)