I'm seeking a mentor, and ideally I'd work as their assistant/shadow/intern to learn the ropes.I'm free of any college debt, and I've got a small pool of savings.

It is more common in low-price areas where the prices are too low to support an individual loan, so you have to get a loan on a pool of properties to get it up to the $60-100K-200K+ range where banks start caring, and the % fees drop more..Good luck!

This is why if that is really important I suggest to investors to pool money and form a group to take down a much larger property.

LOCATION, LOCATION , LOCATION we all hear this .. however in the Mid west you need to also add in that equation PM PM PM its is ultra critical to have the best PM you can, bad PM will destroy a mid west investment.. you need to keep in mind that the renter pools in the mid west are not West coast renters were there is huge competition in many markets for rental properties...

Now that most of my 'buyers' are working on projects, I am focusing on building my pool of investors to blast out emails and make personal calls when I have a new deal.Does anyone have any good ideas on how to find new leads?

You also have to worry about special assessments, an unexpected expense to the complex that everyone must pay for (i.e. elevator breaks, roof top pool leaks, building needs painting, lawsuit, etc.).The associations can also change the bylaws and rules limiting the amount of units that can be rentals (this happened to me in a residential subdivision with an HOA) or require owners to live in properties for at least a year before renting them out, even if the tenant already lives there and an investor buys it.They also have the power to nitpick you about little maintenance items.

(I had been a loan officer in CT for about 5 years, but don't have much experience as a realtor).We found out that to build a house that we want to begin, would cost much less than what we thought, but even tough I just have 1/2 of the money (without the pool :).

The entitlement attitude was ridiculous.We have 2 SFRs in a low/no income area of a small city, and the pool of decent tenants is limited.

Even an appraisal is someones opinion based on information that is available to them.Depending on how specific you want to be, you can roughly determine the value of particular upgrades such as countertops and a pool.

But Heres the List of ProblemsNo A/c or Heat the unit is outWater gets in the basement when it rains,Model is in the Ceiling in 1 of the bathrooms,The Backyard has a Pool that doesn't work at allHeres Whats good,Wood Floors in the living roomNew Floor in the kitchenIt has a Pool in the Groundthe basement has a garage it seems likeand the back deck will have to be replace I estimate the work will cost about 10 k at the mostThe property is in a bad neighborhood where value drops constantlyBut I want to take over the house and rent it out for her should I take the deal or not