If the lot owner is bad with money and is collecting a lease payment from the owner but not paying the taxes - that is not a bad situation for you buying the lien.

The site is CRSdata.com I've researched this site and it provides MLS data and can provide investors with mailing lists and sales comps.

I am interested in investing in “Assignment of Rents by Lessor” agreements.If you are unfamiliar with them, basically, I would be giving the property owner a discounted lump sum for the right to collect all the rent payments from a tenant.

The homeowner's insurance agent is your choice)POSSIBLE APPRAISAL REVIEWOTHER:OTHER:OTHER:OTHER:TOTAL ESTIMATED LOAN COSTS:$1,666.00TOTAL ESTIMATED PREPAIDS:$1,440.09TITLE/ESCROW ESTIMATED FEES:FOR IMPOUNDS ("ESTIMATED NET FIGURE TO BE COLLECTED"):SETTLEMENT/CLOSING$2,000.00HAZARD INSURANCE3months @$100.00TITLE INSURANCE (REISSUE FEE)$800.00=$300.00TITLE CO.

Does any one have any suggestions of what is a good phone to have as an investor that is good for storing data and sending emails fast on the go?

The more research I do on here and on city-data forum, the more I see these 'ghetto' rarely turnaround.

It may be tough to collect payment from the tenant for damages, so I would send a letter stating detailing the damages and what she owes for the repairs along with a statement that this amount will be withheld from the security deposit if she does not pay for the damages prior to moving out.

Also below are links about some Detroit's current funding and investment and where its going.Detroit to get $300 million in federal help - Sep. 27, 2013 - CNN Moneyhttp://money.cnn.com/2013/09/27/news/economy/detroit-federal-help/Ford Foundation donates money to help Detroit manage its federal grantshttp://michiganradio.org/post/ford-foundation-donates-money-help-detroit-manage-its-federal-grantsBill Pulte: From Home Builder to Detroit's Unlikely Blight Busterhttp://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmuller/2013/10/09/bill-pulte-detroits-unlikely-blight-buster/Gilbert: Tear Down All Of Detroit’s Abandoned Homes At Oncehttp://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/10/01/gilbert-tear-down-all-of-detroits-abandoned-homes-at-once/Plan to eliminate blight in Detroit may top $1 billion, task force sayshttp://www.freep.com/article/20131212/BUSINESS06/312120137/Detroit-blight-Quicken-GilbertDetroit bankruptcy judge orders company to stop collecting casino revenue (Access to about $180 million a year that was flowing to creditors from its casinos)http://whtc.com/news/articles/2013/aug/29/detroit-bankruptcy-judge-orders-company-to-stop-collecting-casino-revenue/http://www.freep.com/article/20130903/NEWS01/309030148/Kevyn-Orr-William-Buckfire-depositions-Detroit-bankruptcyFederal, Foundation, City and Corporate Investment Areas in Detroithttp://datadrivendetroit.org/web_ftp/Data_Mapping/InvestmentAreas.pdfThe Auto Industry Bailouthttp://useconomy.about.com/od/criticalssues/a/auto_bailout.htm

Finding comps isn't necessarily hard, but you begin to get vastly different numbers for houses that are pretty similar.Given that I am new to this and want to minimize my risk exposure on my first rehab deal, my first intuition is to just focus my search in the zip codes I can easily comp out and I know will limit my risk of basing my decision on bad data.

Does this check out with the collective knowledge around here?