That being said, how likely would it be to locate such deals in declining markets such as mine (Las Vegas) in which the only apparent opportunities to profit at enough of a discount are dominated by short sales and REOs, as the majority of owners motivated to sell are those who are severely underwater (75% of every mortgage holder in Vegas).

I have around 10-15k to work with and I think I am going to pair up with a friend of mine.

A good friend of mine is with ERA Realty in Wilmington and he keeps his eye open for me.

I usually figure mine at 40% but the homes I’m renting have been rehabbed and usually will have a new roof, bathroom, water heater and other items that will typically have a high replacement cost. 8)

A friend of mine that makes $300,000 a year, works at home (no overhead), has awesome cars, trucks, bikes, 4,500sqft home with 3 bay garage, always vacationing, partying and he was always depressed.

I realize this will vary for different areas, mine is TN if that helps.

But you never know the reason; I'm having tenants move out of a house of mine because I plan to clean it up and sell it -- there's really nothing they could do to convince me to let them stay.

I've NEVER seen a condo where the fees didn't look to me like they were enough to gold plate the exterior every 3 or 4 years so I've never purchased one, even though it would fit into my lifestyle.Instead I pay (on average) $100/month for lawn maintenace and spend a couple of hours, and a couple of bucks a month on other "minor" maintenance and repair items.I'd NEVER do an ARM, there is absolutely NO REASON for a homebuyer to ever do an ARM.

Best to call those problems opportunities for profit.A trashed place that smells bad when you walk in could be a gold mine.

I'm certainly not selling any of mine!