Got any cost effective general contractors or other Tips?

You're buying the future cashflows of the property so a corporate signature McDonald's is going to trade for a similar CAP rate across the country, all other things equal ( term remaining, scheduled increases, NNN or Absolute, etc.)If you are looking at some kind of local single or multi tenant building, then your local market will have a larger effect to factor for likelihood of replacing a tenant should they leave.

I'm not sure how old you are but you must recall college life, particularly off campus living. just a few concerns:  furnished units have to be covered on your insurance which will effect your premium.you gotta be mindful of damages to the furniture in addition to the rest of the place. not everyone will havesticky fingers but be prepared for the occasional theft during transition at the student occupied units. the bedbug epidemic comes into play particular with the more traffic. again, its my coin. feel free to disagree.kudos,Mary

We have not needed a mortgage since acquiring our personal residence on land contract. We are now considering a sizeable mixed use purchase, also on land contract. In the event of seeking financing through a convent...

Some good points being brought up here about how this home surveillance trend effects contractors.

The other great thing about vacation rentals is that it takes rent control and tenant laws out of the equation as those laws don't apply to vacation rental properties.To be sure, there are plenty of other laws that do effect you as an investor if you go this route.If you'd be interested in a conversation, I'd be happy to tell you more about what we do and why. 

Typically a clause to that effect is included in the mortgage docs.

What I would recommend is to send each tenant a letter with instructions on where to send their rent and an effective date.

That cash flow could perhaps help you generate more of a snowball effect in savings towards paying off your debt and making it easier to qualify for financing.

When the seller gives someone an interest in the property during the pendency of sale is something that you, as the buyer, probably have to ratify for it to be effective.