Too much competition in the area from new product, owner is a tired landlord who has mismanaged, has the area changed to more commercial or mainly single family houses in nature?

Fortunately, I do have some cool excel skills and products that I believe can benefit any REI.Currently, working on my TX real estate license and completing the course.  

More recently I've led Product at the 2nd largest privately held real estate auction marketplace in the US (yep..behind Ten-X, ahem..I mean far behind in terms of inventory).My goals as an investor is to get a return higher than 10% on my invested capital by flipping properties with a low appetite for risk.

@James BaileyUse a product called Ditra.

I see them on Craigslist for what looks to be refurbished products but there are only a handful of mixed reviews.

Whether you imbibe or not, it's pretty cool to walk into a shop and see for legal sale a product that will get you arrested in a less progressive state. 

There are several carriers which have designed their products and programs to alleviate this difficulty.

A couple days ago, I got an unsolicited sales call for a REI related product (that I incidentally have no use for) from a vendor with a profile here on BP.  

You can go to the commercial department of most banks and they have products available if they like you and your portfolio.

if you have any bill history, please check for any high's and when. then you go back and check why: a single toilet leak (flapper "melted" from bleach products) can do 3,000 gallon like nothing