There are numerous property owners moving with this idea already. 

Numerous initial and ongoing requirements must be observed, and the burden is on the seller to meet these.

Harold its risk reward and what your comfortable with.8% is basically bank money I borrow from banks at 1 and 5.5 to 6.. so 6.5 to 7% apr.. and those are FULL doc deals with PG's etc.at 8% I would want to know this guy has money and get a PG  ( personal Gurantee) you may also ask for some equity as well.. very common in these deals.. its called a participation mortgage I have been doing those for 30 years they work great.ground up construction is risky from a lender point of view.. you have things to think about and worry about.1. what happens if it gets half way done and the builder walks.2. are the subs being paid... you want to monitor that as well.some things to think about.and generally I am not one to run off to an attorney at the drop of a hat.. but for a 500k deal I would have an attorney write this one up for you and go through the risk factors in your state

No risk no extra reward.

Joe Scanlon has done numerous tax appeals for me.

Enjoyed it and was able to pull some good things from it...curious ways that others may have implemented some of his suggestions into landlording, buy and hold...For me --reward good clients (tenants) by being extra prompt with customer service/maintenance issues, small tokens of appreciation such as gas card, etc. for consistent, on time rent payment (say for 1 yr of prompt payment).

I've been doing direct mail now for about 3 months and it is very rewarding but I haven't done any deals from it yet.

Too much risk vs reward as getting urine out of subfloor or replacing trim etc not something I want to deal with.

Let’s take a look at some of the various investing niches: Single family housesDuplexes, Triplexes, and FourplexesSmall apartment complexes (5-50 units)Large apartment complexes (51+ units)Senior housingHotels/MotelsResidential landCommercial landOffice buildingsRetail space (Strip centers, malls, etc)Medical centersIndustrial buildings These are just a few popular niches among the numerous others.

Hey Kirk,I would check out: www.myrental.com, there tenant screening services including renter eviction history, background search reports and tenant credit score.They are reasonably priced and you can purchase single reports or packages without set-up fees or minimums.There are numerous products to look into to insure you are identifying a quality tenant.I agree with Mindy as well to eliminate you paying for these services, you should collect an application fee that covers the cost.Good Luck.