Also, a fine addition to our REI investment teams is an HVAC testing/cleaning/balancing specialist in addition to the regular repair guy.

Interest rates are reasonable today (though the market in many places is saturated), which means that instead of owning a finance-free REI property for $400k may not be as favorable as financing 4 deals for $400k, down paying $100k each (25%), hopefully cash-flowing, and building equity.

Don't bother with open houses if you just plan to stand there.As a final comment, your age can be an advantage or disadvantage.

When buying a house that's expensive, always try to get somebody to take a look at it before you make a final agreement on the phone.

I'm in the process of selling a finance deal to one of my investors.

A final caveat, some commercial lenders aren't too keen on M2M leases, and there may be documentation in your loan docs regarding this.

Should I insist that the sellers turn them on so I can do a final test of the plumbing, central air, electricity, etc?

That's a fine idea, but you have to find out if you qualify for the mortgage.

I'm no MHP expert but I would imagine in a small town there would be a fine line in raising space rent high enough to push out the "problem" tenants but not the good ones, raising rates at the same time your'e offering them a home would seem to soften the hit though.

There's always a fine line between over-contacting them and annoying them and backing off too much to where they either lose interest or find some other buyer.