Anybody knowjohnmichael: My investor I find them by way of letterjohnmichael: One key source is to watch the foreclosure salesjohnmichael: Search for the person who buys 2 or 3 propsjohnmichael: What do you have?

Example: repos are good in Michigan today, but not in the Northwest because for every repo in the NW there are 10 folks in line to purchase it for market value or higher.A good source for national real-estate trends is (Market Watch .com) Go to real estate weekly.

But.... the biggest problem with this is that everyone could end up seeing your profit at the closing table.

But, I hate all the disclosures and liability that go along with investing on my own with my license.I understand that if you are dealing with the "average" agent, that you would want to consider your own license, but the liability isn't worth it if you pick someone like myself, that's decent, to do the searching for you.The biggest challenge you come up across most agents, is they've NEVER invested other than buying their own home!

This is one of the BIGGEST MISTAKES real estate professionals make.

A water source on the prop will make it more attreactive to the investor.

IMO this is the biggest thing keeping people behind the 8 ball financially.

The day someone comes up with an "open source" response to the MLS is the day NAR loses their power over everyone in real estate.

So: What was your biggest mistake investing?

Obviously, the best properties are going to be ones that generate positive cash flow from day one, that cost you no money down, were grossly undervalued in the market, and which you found while nobody else was looking...But, while you quickly reach limits if you're experiencing negative cash flows in property, it may still be a very good idea to buy a property even if it's got negative cash flow.I may be in the minority here, but...I've got other sources of cash which are positive cash flows and here's only so much you can do to reduce that taxable basis.