BTW, I am in lower end (not war zone, but not the burbs) of an Atlanta town called Decatur.

I have spoken to numerous people that have gotten cold calls from their bank (Usually BAC) saying that they wanted to refinance their loan for no fee's, no appraisal, no credit check and no employment verification.

The National Association of Realtors has just reported that the housing inventory in the U.S. has dropped to $2.5 MM units in April, the lowest number since 2006. Here’s the most common scenario that realtors in Salt ...

You might study installment contracts, seller financing and consider some flips to build up the war chest.Read all you can here and educate yourself and watch out for the hype of the gurus.

A bidding war isn't what you need, more realistic expectations are...

My war zone acquisitions are sometimes 5%+ of purchase price, but there is a unique skill set that comes with managing those types of properties.

You have to get reasonably proficient pretty quickly to be effective at reviewing numerous of properties.

I have several criteria when purchasing investment properties.1) I don't invest in war zones or high crime areas.2) I look primarily for up and coming areas that currently have lower prices but seem to be trending up.3) The numbers have to work.

Well the previous owners bought it and now it was destroyed and wanted out for 30 cents on the dollar.I have had kombat tenants in other units (punching things, slamming cupboard doors so hard they snap in half, slamming doors so hard it slides the casing, slamming fridge doors so all the door holder tabs snap, etc.)I try to avoid them but sometimes something causes them to go off and turn the place into a war house.Other peoples experiences?

Had my 1st motivated seller conversation yesterday, and here's what we have: More infomration in my latest blog post: http://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/2845/blog_posts/22930-making-that-first-motivated-seller-calldecent looking Small house, 880 sq ft, 2 bedroom 1 bath in a dumpy neighborhood (but not war zone).