Listen to the BP podcast with Dion McNeely and use that technique to use Rentometer to set your new rents.5.

Hey Neil,I am brand new to the industry, I spent about 5 months listening to podcast and read a few books before I saw an opportunity to jump into the industry.

You may also want to only buy in nicer neighborhoods, so you are attracting tenants that are more likely to take good care of your place, keeping turnover costs lower.Lastly, just listen to a ton of podcasts and read as many books as you can.

I just sold the 5 Las Vegas properties to purchase 11 units in Hawthorne California and the Las Vegas properties increased in value by about $50,000 each in 3 years.Had I taken the same $1.2 million I invested in Las Vegas I could have purchased a $4 million property in Arizona at $50,000 per unit = 80 units and those units are now selling for almost $300,000 per unit = a profit of 80 x $250,000 = $20 million.So, by listening to my loan broker I lost out on earning $20 million in only 3 to 4 years vs. earning a stinky $250,000 in Las Vegas with the same amount of investment capital.Stupid!

I started making about 20 times as much money every year after I lost $1 million two times and stopped listening to advice from brokers, friends and relatives.I started purchasing single family homes in 1972 and did not have the business experience or business maturity to handle tenants.

Listen to the advice of Yogi Berra (Google him if you don't know who he is): "Hit 'em where they ain't".

First time caller, long time listener. 

Happy to answer any questions or listen to comments.

Don't listen to real estate agents or anyone with something to gain by selling you something  egging you on to disaster.

The past few monthsI've been listening to podcasts, reading books, and evaluating properties by working with couple of real estate agents in my area along with going to go see a few of them in person as well.