There are companies that will install submeters on water for cheap.

I actually was born and raised in Southern California myself- moved to NC a year ago and got interested in this when I realized how cheap housing is out here.

But, those post cards seem small and cheap to mail to an apartment owner.

So I kicked the habit - I stopped going to seminars and started to apply some of those ideas that were preached by speakers who were experts at extracting fees from me.I started to attend real estate auctions, studying the process - watching others make a lot of money - I decided to get a credit line - increase my credit card limits and started looking for properties (cheap- ugly buildings) in the neighborhood where real estate auctions were taking place - my primary goal at this time was to learn the market in the area where I wanted to control real estate - I would look at 50-60 houses (but made no offers - when agents would try to qualify me I just said "I have a small inheritance and will not need financing) - I kept a journal of the price per square foot,  comparing properties, and all comments made by sellers and agents (this helped me to find the seller dominate selling motive),  that was helpful - but I soon discovered that I was just looking for real estate in the conventional way  - I needed to do something else - so I started to look for owners of real estate who had problems (I applied Power Prospecting formulas) and at the same time studying creative real estate techniques from the old masters in the industry - became a member of the Washington Real Estate Exchange, hosted a real estate investor club and started to give mini creative financing seminars  while networking with those I wanted to emulate. 

I am cheap as hell compared to everyone else and better than them to boot). 

In Denver you would never find that because it would go right to the realtors friend or they ate people that of been hounding the property owner about buying it   People in Denver always say that they wish they could’ve bought these places 15 years ago when they were dirt cheap.

Neighbors are rightly concerned about the effect that cheap, mobile housing has on their property values.  

Typically, gentrification is led by young arty kids looking to do their thing in a cheap place (that's what happened in the SoHo in the 60s-70s and BK now.Maybe the Bronx is next to gentrify, but who know.

Detroit (city) has sections where the real estate is very cheap.  

Just get them cheap enough to account for the renovations.