Basically it works like this:1) Find/prospect for motivated sellers willing to do a lease-option on their house2) Find/prospect for tenants looking for a "rent-to-own" opportunity3) Put the 2 together and collect the option fee (or 1/2 of it) as your profit!!

Why the property manager verbally said that a move-in date as far as month from now is okay, but at the same time declines to execute a lease agreement soon, remains a mystery to me.

Americans just needs to THINK VOTE and remain VIGILANT.

A closer look allows you:1) To confirm if the house is vacant2) You will start to see some houses with REO letters (bank owned), I avoid, lock boxes (means someone has an interest in the property already) avoid, Tenant eviction notice (has landlords contact info and they will be motivated), foreclosure notices etc.3) You will get a chance to network since you are out of the car- you will meet neighbors, where you can get the story on the house, contractors (mowers, handymen etc. which can give you info on the house as well as several others)4) You get to understand the condition of the property by seeing it up close.Driving your farm are in my opinion is highly recommended at least once a month (a lot happens in a neighborhood in a month), but is still one out of the 10 or more you should regularly doing to find these properties.Personally I feel there is a moral obligation if I am going to put a property under contract that I have the intention of closing it myself if I can not find a buyer.

Also, what are the pitfalls to avoid when buying a short sale through the banks or a motivated seller?

He doesn't want to short sale unless he can remain as a tenant.

It seems with banks receiving so many billions that they might be less motivated to sell off their REOs.

"To be frank, since the TARP money came in, they are still selling off (properties at auction), but they kind of took a step back." . . .Real Estate Disposition LLC (REDC), which claims to be the nation's largest real estate auction company, held 300 ballroom auctions in 2008 and sold nearly 33,000 foreclosed homes for $3.4 billion -- a seven-fold increase in sales volume and nearly triple the proceeds the company generated in 2007.Company CEO Jeffrey Frieden said he expects to "smash that record" this year as banks and lenders continue to amass a huge inventory of foreclosed homes and are more motivated than ever to sell their inventory. . . .Some observers fear that if the massive amount of debt the government is taking on to stimulate a recovery, inflation -- and higher interest rates -- are inevitable consequences.

The remaining money is your NOI - net operating income.

The seller remains as the title holder.