You need to get to the point where you can drive by a property, know the area well enough that you can value it basically while driving, know the costs of bring it up to market by walking through, do your due diligence and arrive at an offer.

Basically, you have hit the nail on the head.

However, you first need to have a basic understanding of the problem and subletting in general.

Only a small account for basic misc. expenses, small repairs, bigger things approved by or handled by yourself or management company3.

Consult an attorney and certified risk manager familiar with your state but here are the basics:1.

So, just based on that sort of concept of capitalizing on every available asset, I am kicking around the idea of getting another rent out of the duplex and turning it into a triplex.

My thought is that, if I find a well-functioning entity with good staff, it seems it would be much easier to buy the entire entity and everything with it, than to create a new LLC and have to basically "rehire" the 2 employees I want to keep, etc...

I asked about running a credit check and he basically said it would be a waste of time because I was essentially guaranteed they'd have a bad score, as otherwise they'd be financing conventionally.

It sounds like you did do some basic interviewing of the contractors but you may have to take things a step further next time to ensure something like this does not happen again.

Basically, I just put my ideas down on paper, with a discrete set of tasks, timeframes and goals to go with it.