Classified Ads in Newspapers – local paper, Pennysavers and local real estate publications (“For Sale by Owner”.)2.

So one can proactively go to the tax assessors' office in your city and do research to determine whether there is a lien or other negative report that would start a negotiation process this is public information -- superficial at first but then once trust is built  with a series of phone calls or visits -- request a "certified document on the first year status of the property in question and in relation to a tenant's payment history.

If you have a web site, you may want to have your policies publicly available.

2 important factors for a good rental property location is being close to public transportation and shopping.

And doing a short sale will certainly hurt your credit"it was purchased as my first home and i moved out last yr because i needed more space for the family. i have income to cover the loss.

All 4 are living on public assistance and they have no way of helping.

Another potential liability issue and likely code violation: The pickets on the deck are spaced too far apart. with 4 steps, you need handrails.

I don't think Shawn has a publicly posted speaking schedule, but you can get more info about what he's up to in the short term at his web site: http://www.investorsworkshops.com/events

If there are other revenue sources (parking spaces, storage lockers, coin laundry, etc) you would add that in as well.From there you can figure 50% expenses to get your NOI.Your NOI divided by your purchase price is your CAP Rate.What you'll usually see is someone saying they're gross rents are $1,000 so their GOI is $48,000 for the Quadplex.Their property taxes are $3,000, Dwelling Insurance is $800, Sewer/Garbage is $4,000 so their expenses are $7,800.They will claim a NOI of $48,000 - $7,800 = $40,200 and then calculate a CAP Rate off that.This is a garbage calculation.

On commercial properties there are many reasons why a properties full information is not disclosed.1.The property is a vacant REO building and has no numbers besides taxes.2.The bank or receiver took the property over recently and no data was given to them by the old property management company or by the previous owner for adversarial reasons.In these situations you price in the worst case scenarious to be safe.3.In commercial you get many off market properties because the seller doesn't want the sale made public.4.The seller has demanded that minimum info be listed on the listing and only when a buyer is qualified as credible and serious and has signed a confidentiality and disclosure disclosure agreement then the info will be shared.The seller might not want the information of how their property is operating to get into the competitions hands.I do agree that many investors will keep different reserves based on individual preferences.Where this comes in big though is there are industry averages where unless the buyer will be paying all cash or owner finance they will be getting a loan from a commercial lender.This commercial lender will price in reserves to the numbers and marketing costs because if the lender giving the loan has to foreclose they will operate it and value it based on their expenses and not the owner who self manages,does their own pest control,makes their own repairs,etc. to increase margins.This is a number one reason loans do not get funded.An investor shows a deal cash flowing 5,000 a month on a apartment building and the numbers are real.However the commercial lender comes to 3,500 a month cash flow after their analysis of how they would run it an dhow it would perform if they took the property back.This is why owner finance and putting little to no money down to preserve liquidity is the name of the game.Leveraging yourself into as many properties as possible UNDER THE RIGHT TERMS with smart growth taking advantage of the down markets is key.We have real estate niches for a reason.There are different flavors for everyone.It also depends on the investors goals.If they have millions already and are just trying to get a certain return and stay above inflation each year with not much headache then yes turnkey might be the answer for them.If you are going to do that I would go for triple net corporate rated tenants and collect mailbox money than deal with toilets,tenants,and termites,and eviction headaches.I deal with this on my apartments but my returns are way over 7 to 8%.So what you take on versus the expected return is key to doing a deal or not.I find generally landlords once they hit a certain age and life just get tired and want someone to take over their problems.This is when at 36 I still have gas in the tank and I am willing to take on big headaches for big returns.Later in life that might change what kind of portfolio I want to hold and grow.I personally stay away from buyers wanting these little houses for 35,000 that give off 700 a month rent.The investors are out of state and want you to micro-manage for them at 60 bucks a month and it's not worth it.I own many apartment units and even with a maintenance guy and a property manager living on site it can be very intensive to run correctly.It is not as easy as everyone thinks it is especially when most investors will be buying older buildings on value add deals.It's easy when a building is brand new and tenants want to sign up left and right and there are little to no repairs to speak of.When you buy new though you pay a premium for it.If you want to create wealth you need accelerated returns.I have really enjoyed this discussion so far.