The vacancy rates can vary, we would have to see how many active rentals are available in that specific pocket as well as the days on market. 

One thing to keep in mind is the insurance, as insurance can be very high depending on the properties.

Keep in mind the entire front lawn needs to be re-seeded etc. 

I'm relatively new at this and enjoy being an active landlord in addition to my day job.

While the cost of entry might be a bit higher, I truly believe there's still plenty of potential for property appreciation.My focus is primarily on single-family homes with a long-term hold and rental strategy in mind.

If they don't know you, there is usually a lot of hesitation towards heavily leveraging the purchase and rehab of a home to someone that they don't know well.This is a good start (posting and being active on BP), but checking in with local REI groups and reaching out locally won't hurt either.

Another option would be to use it to pay off my mortgage, which is a guaranteed return every year (currently at 5.25%), and some peace of mind.

@Andrew KielFrom everything I have seen throughout this creative finance series and in my limited number of creative deals, I can definitely agree that a solid Title Agent is a key member of any team.It's crazy that there are people who would actively try to make creative finance more difficult!

Keep in mind banks typically price construction debt at WSJ Prime +1% which means you are looking at 9.5% interest even on bank originated debt.

Look for active, pending, and sold flips, and find out who the owner is by skip-tracing the address, or you could simply call the listing agent.