Asking them what strategies they work with will likely get you either some meaningless sales pitch or simply dead air. :-) And asking them for what overlays they have will get you the same thing.The people doing the loans won't typically know what guideline is a bank overlay and which one is fannie mae.

Of course you always have to factor in the quality of the work and not just go with the lowest bidder, but routinely checking what the market price is helps prevent costs from ballooning.

@Jonathan Safa  There is a lot of Air BnB here.  

A credit check can alert you to any large debts that may prevent your potential tenant from paying their rent.

@Alessandro Machi I've been doing Air bnb for a little over 2 years and I can tell you that Air bnb takes care of all the fees and distributions on the their side. 

The units could EASILY be rented for $550-$600 even without the minor upgrades and central heat/air units that I'm going to install (all of them currently have AC and gas heaters.)

If the roots underneath are exposed to air, they will die.

Mike,When you "fully rehab" do you improve the building envelope (air seal, insulate, new doors and windows) if its an older building?   

I have a good rapport with the store managers, and am timely with picking the signs up to prevent them from junking up the lot. 

So far, this has prevented any sellers from being upset.