GetSmart - The 203K or Home Equity loan are two that I am currently looking into.....thanks.If you know of other "Creative" financing methods, please feel free to share.

If you bought right at the beginning of the school year, I would be concerned about the quality or longevity of the tenants/students.

What method(s) have you found to most accurately calculate what a tenant will pay to rent a house?

You don't always get a definite payback on those items, but you do nonetheless get payback in the quality of tenant you attract.

A double close has a lot of moving parts and if you do not have an attorney on your team yet I believe assigning the contract is easiest method.

Any other proven methods to recommend?

Investors (and any other real estate people)If you are new or seasoned, the yellow letter is an excellent marketing method to get a high response rate from sellers.Most marketing results in .5 - 1% response rate..With the yellow letter, you'll get 10% to 25% (depending on the list your mailing to)...Do me a favor and don't mail to foreclosures, o.k.???

Most all marketing is focused on repeating the message and measuring the results over an extended period rather than a 1 off ad.Good luck.Note you can use Craigslist and other methods to place free ads.

with one exception, we've had quality tenants who've rented long term.

Their problem tends to be verifying it using conventional methods.