A short sale is something that you should NOT try to navigate on your own with a seller.  

Feels like 'SlumLords' run this town's market at the end of the day.Interested to hear what others have to say who have experience with tenants in college towns/ How to navigate around potential risks.

-Seek professional help: Working with a real estate agent and lender/broker can help you out quite a bit when navigating what deals are worthwhile and which aren't. 

While all of my Memphis properties performed well for LTRs, I will not be investing in Memphis in the future for a few reasons: Crime is pretty out of control (if you're not from the area, it can be tough to navigate this), it can be a tough rental market due to professional renters (folks who take advantage of landlords), and the last reason is that it's highly competitive.

Knowing that bigger arbitrage businesses have their own cleaning and maintenance staff, I figured they may be able to operate the property at a profit, even during the this virus situation that we're trying to navigate. 

I am looking to establish relationship(s) with Real Estate Agents or Brokers in the greater Seattle area that can help me navigate the rental property game in this area (bonus points for investing experience).Please share any and all names that you recommend!

So, I am currently going thru the loan app process and my "pre-approval" loan amount is looking at about $100K, which I know is tough but not impossible to navigate for initial home purchases.I am a service-disabled vet, and hoping to qualify for VA Loan so that I can house-hack a multifamily.Most likely the best strategy for me is going to be networking and partnering.

It sounds like you've got the experience and the handle on the numbers in order to be able to navigate this stuff pretty smoothly.If you're uncomfortable with the leverage positions you're likely going to want to wait until 25% down.

Spend the money to get an inspection. you'll find a lot of inspectors understand how to respectfully navigate a home that's currently being occupied. 

How can someone navigate this situation?