Shop for something you can afford, and if your disciplined and save money every month you could in fact put the wheels in motion for owning your own home.Advise: If you credit is damaged find yourself a good "Partner" and offer them some experience and put some skin in the game... say cash for a down payment  ;) The numbers:2B/1B, 1275 SQFT Huge Detatched 2 car garage.Asking price 100KMarket price 120KWe bid 85K( Someone else bid)Changed our bid to 100KThey countered 102KWe drew a line in the sand and stuck to 100KGot credited 5K+2500K in closing.We settled at 95KPut 10K down and have a 85K loan @ 4.375The house needs 15K in repairs.The location is in the best part of town, has 6 schools in less then 2 miles.

The house is in a desirable neighborhood in Massachusetts but was built in the early 1900's and has been abandoned for about 5 years with leaks and significant water damage and likely to have mold.

The reason why I do that is if they have been there less than a year and they have damaged the property their security deposit may cover the damages, however if yo used your notice to renew and they do and they keep the same habits of not taking care of the property, it is going to get very pricy.  

Some investors might balk at the percentage but when you factor these are low income areas and the rents are low the PM isn't making much for all the drama.If you were a PM and could manage an asset in an upscale area instead for say 8% of 2,000 rent that is 160 a month.13% of 600 rent is 78.00 a month and you are dealing with double bookkeeping, high frequency of damage and evictions, multiple trips and constant monitoring of the asset to keep it performing etc.So it's easy to see why many PM companies will not even consider these places.

I've just started working on my physical lead generation by driving for dollars.  

You need reserves to hold properties.Your area market vacancy is relevant to cash flow assumptions but not to reserves or holding costs.Consider these aspects;Tenant has a crack party and they get busted and the health department shuts you downFire damage, you don't get an insurance claim paid the next day, I never did.

If a tenant puts significant holes in the walls, such as with a fist, then the damage at that point will be chargeable to the tenant.

I suspect what goes on is a lot of hype as no one has mentioned exactly any subject matter in these seminars.Let me guess; these are the secrets, if you pass along information you damage your own business chances.

This is part of the roof.This the bulk of the damage. 

This way the property reverts back to me if there is a problem with payments and any monies lost by the buyer is considered rents (liquidated damages), which is stated in my contract.