Assessing Rental Markets Can someone point me in the right direction please.

Until that attitude changes, you're unlikely to make much progress getting the average real estate investor to diversify--especially into stock/mutual funds/ETFs (Buy and hold?

So, in addition to being a tool for valuing commercial RE it can also be used IMO to assess the market's opinion of risk for a particular market ... you may think that the market is wrong about that and you may be right, but the point is that it can also be measured as a proxy for market risk.You of course are free to use any valuation metrics you like ... you could use the number of blades of green grass in the front yard per dollar of gross rent to evaluate your deals if you like, and if that works for you then great, I'm very happy for you.

. ;-)@Robin Lewis In paradise my PM would also be totally awesome in checking, analyzing and telling me what improvements I could/should do (I'm somewhat of a distant owner), organize the contractors and material, overlook everything, kick some butts here and there, provide progress reports and ultimately pay everyone involved and then invoice me accordingly.

I assess that the PM/Realty company focuses more on the realty side of their business rather than PM, a lack of effort hurts the property owners.  

Here are a few details:Property value: 91,000 (assessed, not appraisedCurrent loan pay off: 60,000Years remaining on note: 15Current interest rate: 8.5%Current loan payments :$650/monthCurrent credit score: ~650 (probably my biggest issue)There are a couple of options that I'm looking into. 1.) refinance the home for $15,000 above payoff and use the cash as investment capital in a deal (probably my least favorite option)2.) refinance the home for the current payoff at a lower interest rate (same 15 years) so that I could save the difference in the mortgage and invest that.

I simply didn't have the time when I was selling 75 homes a year.I wish you nothing but success, and by all means keep us up to date on your progress! 

But the sale will not wipe the special assessments, IRS liens (120 Redemption) and other citations and code violations.

Sometimes you can get re-assessed higher in rate by appealing ( not good ).I work with commercial clients but they still worry about expenses.

Put it in front a judge and you're going to lose.At this point, you should expect to do four things - 1) Pay someone to draw plans2) Pay someone to tear the deck apart3) Pay someone to build you a new one4) Pay the current contractor for his progress to dateGiven your situation, I would probably not rehire your current contractor.