Every free moment you have :)Start with going to the property and taking alot of pictures and as many notes and measurements as you can think of.

Using hard money is a temporary measure - max 12 months.2.

I had urged them to take measurements to make sure the appliance fit, but they end up getting an extra deep one. 

I am saying if you're using a different measurement than what your investors are using or your brokers then you may run into some trouble because you're not on the same page..

If your unit does not measure up favorably in comparison, tenants will look elsewhere.

People with realistic, measurable plans are so much more likely to succeed and that is awesome that you have them.Setup some Keyword Alerts for terms such as "Auburn" and "Washington".

He said he wanted to take a little more time to be able to pull together cost-saving measures such as, say, buying double the amount of flooring for a discount and using it on two houses he is doing, or maybe waiting for a great appliance sale, etc.

This was going to be my home for 2 years to then sell at a profit (hopefully) so I didn't want a stop-gap measure that would detract from the sales price in 2 years so I passed.If I were looking at a house that needed major work (flip) I can guesstimate repair costs pretty well so I'd come up with my offer price taking into account my guesstimate for repairs and get it under contract.

Professor Shiller has cut through the inflation and measures and compared prices in real dollar terms.

I will use Jeff S. suggestion about using measuring PI payment as a % of rent but instead of 50% I am going to keep it at <35% since I want to maximize cash flow.