In the short sale world you don't want to be involved in non arms length transactions or any grey area behavior. 

I believe over a couple of years I will be able to get my current tenants at least to the $1500 mark.Jack, that is my dilemma....I have a tremendous tenant that is paying off the vast majority of my mortgage, I am hesitant forcing them out if they can't go any higher, only to find myself with a crap tenant down the road (to me the additional headaches of a bad tenant aren't worth 200 a month).As far as CAP EX goes, the only big expenditure on the horizon is the roof, which has 2-3 years left on it. 

If you are interested in shorter term fixed rates that could save you money, you still want to stick with conventional loans and just pick a 5 or 7 year ARM. 

Therefore, I think I will be able to get the home for <$100k and will not be forced to go through a bank.  

I unexpectedly began my real estate investing/rental property career in 2007 after a job transfer forced me to quickly become a landlord. 

It's interesting around the Groton area since we have the base and with EB building their work force it's all very exciting right now! 

I can not find a bank that allows or is capable of it and I am forced to open individual escrow accounts for each tenants. 

If it can wait, I probably would to avoid a high rate and any sort of ARM (adjustable rate mortgage).

Supposedly the artists that started down in RiNo before it was hot have now been forced out by price and a lot are moving up to the Globeville area. 

They understand that w/larger value add properties they have some additional advantages such as scale, forced appreciation and easier to geographically diversify.