So now there's that fear that, when looking at properties and either doing a mental exercise or actually getting serious about buying it, there is something inherently bad about that property.

In a soft market, insurance carriers (as a whole) are quoting policies with broader coverage, more coverage enhancements, aggressive premiums, allowing lower deductibles, and less stringent about underwriting details. 

You'd then be forced to issue them a 28 day notice to either: 1) inspire them to sign the renewal, or 2) move out and rent it to someone else.Lease renewals are a great time to make sure your lease provisions are also compliant with various state and/or local laws - so that they're always enforceable if you end up needing to exercise a right under the agreement.

OpenRoad (the CRM package) has some very nice features that integrate multiple areas of business process and can be purchased separate from the SIMMS product - it came with SIMMS for me.the platform itself is designed around an integrated marketing & lead generation play and is very sophisticated and well conceived.As I post, I am in the airport in San Diego (using the free wireless) after having attended the four day event to teach and enhance the understanding of the SIMMS system capabilities.

You could enhance your position if you do not have all your capital tied up at the end.John Corey

Hey folks- fyi this post sheds some light:Craigslist Kills Off Ability to Post Enhanced Ads – Real Estate Agents and Investors Affected

I quit that exercise even on my rentals after seeing the negativity that customers had.

This way it would enhance my knowledge, have access to mls, understand my market better, and network w/ a wide variety of people in the real estate industry.

If I was to buy a 4unit for 200K-400K, how expensive would it be to find contractors that can do simple repairs to enhance the place a little.

If you're fixing things up nice (outside as well as in) your efforts will enhance your other properties (especially if they are close together).