For example, my choice of pest control company is entirely based on referral and/or Google reviews.

My $45,000 costs $300 a month to be in second position and if taxes/ins/expenses are another $400 a month, they are cash flowing $200-300 a month, which obviously only grows as rents increase and my lien looks better and better as the principal decreases.Now, sure, I'm painting a choice scenario...1% rent rule, an investor with that kind of SFR farm...but funny enough...I see more and more of those scenarios existing the more I talk to people.

Cash reserves probably wouldn't have made much difference in this case as it was extreme, but when our tenant (who was in the military) was reassigned 6 months into a two year lease, the same month my wife, who was six months pregnant, lost her job, and after three months we were still without a new tenant, the choice was made for us. 

I’m sure there are other ideas but we’re looking for data-driven choices for this troubling situation.

My choice is to focus on cash flow right now.

I’m an investor and have 2 agents told me foreclosure house are not good choice to buy.

@John Zoulis I wouldn't trust 100/sf, you might ask a local builder to determine real and accurate prices, 150 and 200/sf is a safe number, for analysis, use those numbers, many can do it at 150, but your GC choices will be limited, use 200/sf just in case you run into problems or not have enough experience.

I think what people (especially RE investors) often mean with a 401k being a "bad investment" is that they feel can make higher returns in real estate than they can in typical 401ks that have very limited asset choices.

It shows some 64 choices.

After cleaning/painting after a couple of heavy smokers, it was an easy choice.