We have inherited numerous tenants living in properties with an oral lease with the seller and have bought properties where the tenant names were not even completely documented-- all they had was a first name and an oral lease (jodi, apt. #1, 375.00, tommie smith, apt #2 ) We have tenants where the original lease holders have moved out and left adult children who never signed a new lease.

Not saying all realtors are shady but during the 2008-2012 period I made at least 10-15 seprate offers on hot properties in socal and numerous of times I saw a property end up being sold for less than i offered.

I choose to accept the lower class “risks” (namely dealing with more maintenance issues and lower caliber tenants) to reap the financial rewards of 3 times more units in my portfolio, which generates three times more profit.When I first started out I wanted duplexes for the safety of knowing if one side was empty the other side would pay the rent.  

You want to think of the 1031 as just the vehicle that can be used to reposition those assets in numerous ways. 

@Ryan BoltmanWe've helped many investors just like yourself build a successful rental portfolio across numerous cash flow markets.

At this point, it seems that keeping my assets in index funds offer more risk than reward at this point.

If you have underwritten properly and if you screen diligently, trust little and verify a lot, it can be a very rewarding jurney.

Just listen to the podcasts, there are numerous ways to invest in this industries, and bad numbers for one person could be great for someone in a different situation with different goals.

My only word of advice would be to point out that since debt service is the numerator and income the denominator in the DTI ratio, focus on reducing your debt load first.

He and I share several clients and have worked together on numerous occasions - flawless execution and great information each time, without fail.