You should be able to look the owner up online.

HomeVestors, an investment company that brands itself “We buy ugly houses,” named the following top 10 housing markets for investing in single-family homes for 2014. All of these markets have posted strong apprecia...

@Matt Liu,If you do breach the agreement, you can bet the banker will file it and put you in the street.

Any other tips on how to buy a house that will rent well and be a smart bet?

We could jump online and look up some values but much of that is block-by-block.

Unless he/she bought it 30+ years ago, I'd bet your research is flawed

It automatically generates monthly rental invoices, reoccurring bills like sewer bills, and has great reporting functions.Going even further I got set up on IPN (Intuit Payment Network) and now I email my rent invoices to my tenants and they can click a link, and pay me online, I then just click to receive the payment and everything is recorded instantly.There is a learning curve to some extent.

There are so many online agencies that offer this.

., provides an online technology platform and patented client management system that allows real estate agents to provide their buyers and sellers the industry's best search experience, including real-time MLS data and public records, the ability to view their customers' search activities and collaborate with them online, and to easily and automatically provide other information and tools to help clients find the perfect home or market their property.Listingbook has 70 MLS clients and is available to 60 percent of agents nationwide.

I also used some online tools: Narrpr.com; trend mls to determine the arv, and local rents.