Fill in the foundation below.Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast - A weekly podcast with interviews and a ton of great advice.

Sounds like someone made up some stuff to fill pages of a book to sell to me

Note that fully answering your question would fill a book so understand that the following is only an overview.I would start by understanding overall population movement trends.

Your goal is to FILL YOUR FUNNEL - get as many people coming in as possible so the good ones can be filtered out.The really frustrating thing is when you find a great deal, make the offer, and then lose it to someone who will pay more (even too much).  

An alternative is to screen them for good pet ownership (fill out a separate pet application) and charge pet registration fees and pet rent.

Fill in the foundation below.Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthereLocate and attend 3 different local REIA club meetings great place to meet people gather resources and info.

Fill in the foundation below.Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere Locate and attend 3 different local REIA club meetings great place to meet people gather resources and info.

Fill in the foundation below.Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere Check out BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide - A fantastic free book that walks through many of the key topics of real estate investing.Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast - A weekly podcast with interviews and a ton of great advice.

FHA and VA loans are the opposite of that: they take a long time to close and are filled with contingencies. 

@Braden Hobbs That's a tough situation but is it that you're not able to fill the vacancy after that point in time or is it just going to take a little longer?