First ask if there are any areas you should completely avoid (as a couple people) and if they all say the same thing its probably a good bet its true.

The Stockade neighborhood in Schenectady is another area to avoid due to flooding concerns.

Are any of these neighborhoods we should avoid?

I just use Postlets these days to avoid the million calls and texts from people who aren't serious.

I'm actually not looking for professional sports necessarily... just want to avoid tiny towns with "nothing to do."

While they would incur the gift tax, they can simply use their unified tax credit and avoid any taxes.

Ask for referrals.Personally, I don't think fees are as important because the lower cost guys typically either have hidden fees or provide poor property management that creates avoidable costs.

Rentals generate passive income that avoids the pesky self-employment (SE) tax.

It still shows that you are using credit and you avoid paying any interest.

.), we can call it a "renovation" and you can avoid the hard money / construction / commercial financing.