@Michael Trabert Not sure how abundant MFs in areas you are interested in investing/living in but for me, the MFs that come up where I'd want to live/invest are rare and even rarer at a decent price so it's slim picking regardless of how many units.

When the bank determines the short sale amount they will accept, they already set aside a budget for paying real estate commissions.

We've come across plenty of properties that we were looking to pick up at auction just to find out there are other liens on the property, not just primary mortgage.

@Gwilym Griffiths I can help you determine what would be a good investment for you. 

My first house ever purchased was a short sale that I picked up in June of 2012 for $135,000 that my wife and I lived in for about 3 years.

As far as rental income, you will either get a copy of the existing lease agreement or if vacant, the appraiser will do a rental comp analysis and determine the likely rental income each unit will provide?

Pick an area that you love.

Or you can use Zillow to determine the value by comparing the property to other houses that have sold in the area in recent times that are about the same size and condition

So over the course of the last few weeks I have been attending the free webinars w/ Brandon Turner and it seems like every time we go over how to evaluate a property and determine if it is a good deal, which is awesome to learn and just fine tune every week! 

@Malik Batchelor yeah, pick up the phone a couple thousand times and call them 😉