We have a couple of student houses which are probably the most energy efficient and amongst the classiest {for a student rental} in "universityville".

I am okay with waiting for a tenant that has at least one english tenant over 18 years old because I want to be able to communicate with them on an ongoing basis.I am worried about discrimination though if I do not offer applications to those families that can not speak english.

But, with a little practice, plenty of communication, and proactive landlording - you'll be looking for as many tenants as you can get- Good luck with your investments - always re-run the numbers and account for the unexpected ( like replacing a HVAC unit..or two) Keep us updated with what you decide.

The property is three buildings on four 25'x145' lots (slivers of land), two are efficiency duplexes and the third is a 3/1.

Because I'm military I mainly bank online but if I were able to establish a local branch bank that was convenient to my tenants and just transfer that money to where I need it online that would be great.A lot of these problems result from being a long distance landlord and being across the country from my properties, but I'm glad I can figure out the best method of doing business now so when my portfolio gets bigger I can maximize efficiency.

Like @David Krulac I fall in-between the polar points expressed here.Though we hold mostly multi-family properties, we do have a few SFRs which are student rentals at this time.In the case of a property that may be sold to a retail buyer, I agree that you would wait until you were preparing for disposition to affect the final cosmetic renewal and possible quality upgrades (i.e. moving to soap stone counters in the kitchen).That said, we look to affect efficiency retrofits early in our ownership of a property - usually at the first opportunity provided by turnover.

Looking to maximize IT to aid me in becoming more efficient in moving in on real estate deals, and my experience in construction to give me a leg up in making flips profitable.Have a good friend who I partner up with, whose background is in investment banking.

Make the rehabber pay for rehab costs and material in full, since that is what he is performing (built in incentive to be cost efficient).

Are there any NEW cost efficient and effective means of finding motivated sellers?

My only issue is that there seems to be more intangibles involved in the business model (hourly rentals, efficient use of space, different subscription tiers etc), whereas with office suites and ppsq the numbers seem a bit more easy for me to wrap me head around.