If your circumstances are such that you can purchase a property using FHA, live in it for a year, buy a new FHA home, and rent the first one...lather rinse repeat up to the max allowed FHA insured mortgage holdings...that's a really cheap way to get into buy & hold REI. 

That is the way to go from the standpoint of economy - no repeated chirping when the battery goes low, one roughly $7 battery lasts the same as 5 or more alkaline batteries, and getting the ladder out to change batteries regularly is no longer necessary.  

County Records: Using netronline.com, locate the county assessors web site and look up property.Verify that the information on the listing coincides with what the county records say.Call assessor’s number to find out what agency the county uses to ensure title is clear of liens.Every county has their own process specific to them.Comparable sales: Using the “Recently Sold” link on Zillow.com, make of list in excel of the properties that have recently sold within the last 12 months using same criteria as subject property.Compare your property with comps.Rents: If flipping, you need this information just as an exit strategy.Using apartments.com / rent.com / trulia.com / local real estate agencies (Century21 or similar) to locate comparable property rents.If renting, this will tell you what you need to get the property for in order to profit.Run the #s: Using your risk factor, calculate all of the following: Purchase closing costs, utility connection costs, utility hold costs for 6 months if vacant, property insurance for 12 months, initial construction costs after purchase, rehab costs (if any), selling commission (if flipping), selling taxes forward to purchaser upon closing, your expected profit after sale or monthly break even cash if renting.Your drive to SUCCEED: You must have a written plan for this property along with two minimum exit strategies.Have your overall goal repeated on a daily basis.

You get a lot of no's along the way because you don't have much credibility or money but eventually the yes's come more and more frequently and it all starts to domino. 

I don't but the topic comes up frequently here. 

I agree to "know your customer" and what drives them to give you repeat business. 80% of your business will be from repeat customers and around 20% from constant couponing.

Then I would rinse & repeat.

Again I repeat, there are still some lenders that are offering 100% financing without the 5% hit for declining markets---US Bank is just one of them that I'm aware of...Regards,Scott Miller

Well, we ended up having to evict her about 1.5 years later for not paying rent, after she had repeatedly paid rent late throughout her tenancy. 

Repeat until rented.I tell all potential tenants this so they know that  if they do not like the price today, they can check back in a few weeks and see if it is still available.