Beside selling the properties, is there other way to maximize our buying power?

A little bit about myself for anyone interested:I'm looking to be a buy-and-hold investor while continuing my regular job - I am looking to put money to work and would be potentially interested in doing so as part of someone else's deal; I would consider both SFR and MFR deals.I am an investor in my day job (currently private equity / buyouts, soon to become public equities) so may have some bad habits, or at least industry-specific ones, to break; I generally anticipate being relatively analytical / systematic in looking at dealsMy family held a few properties when I was growing up - I have experience personally doing refurbishing work and secondhand experience with property management activities (this will hopefully help me as contextual information, I don't anticipate taking on an active role in refurb or property management in the near future)Right now, I am trying to educate myself on the process of deal sourcing (MLS, wholesaler buyer lists, etc.) and market data sources; in particular, I would really appreciate any input on good sources for publicly available market-level data in manipulable format such as Excel or .csv as well as input from anyone who uses a systematic deal-screening approach both on their criteria and how they get reliable / quality data into a screening-friendly formatThanks for everything people have already contributed. 

As long as you have your power triangle in the kitchen you will be fine!

This is a great start to get you pre-approved and this way you'll know your buying power and you can move forward from there.Also check out my interview on the Joe Fairless Show, the link is on my profile.I hope this helps and have a great weekend.

In my state, techically it is not legal, but all he would have to do is get a limited power of attorney to correct it. 

I would start with understanding how a power of sale works and your judicial and non-judicial processes.

I would would think moving forward that investors would have more negotiating powers with banks or sellers as prices continue to drop and get a cheaper price then say 8 - 12 months ago...Thank you both for your replies and opinions. 

As in a I want to do this as quick and as cheap as possible..  

@Manish A. I

Give your name and number and ask them to respond if they are interested in selling or maintaining the house to local and county codes  since it is clear that the house needs some maintenance. .I use the code approach to push the issue that their asset is declining and see if you can help - maybe they got cited already by the city - I find it generates more response than just a I BUY HOUSES card. good luck!