You may want to get some analysis from a good contractor or handyman who will look things over and advise for free (and not charge $65 per visit) and go from there.

You don't want the reputation of the DEA or local authorities visiting your apt every weekend.

Fill in the foundation below.Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere Check out BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide - A fantastic free book that walks through many of the key topics of real estate investing.Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast - A weekly podcast with interviews and a ton of great advice.

This method eliminates the competition at the tax sale, be pro-active.Tax sale certificate purchasing is a passive method of investing, for me, I'm impatient, I don't want to wait the prescribed period of time to get paid interest on my investment (too old to wait for that).I would rather deal directly with the property owner to attempt to solve the problem they are having; no money for the taxes.There are times when if you are pro-active, visiting tax sale properties, searching for the owners, that you may find a really great deal.

(I do feel like the barrier to entry in this business is too low.)I took 100 pages of notes, which I'll be happy to share - but there's NO guarantee as to accuracy.  

Fill in the foundation below.Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere Check out BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide - A fantastic free book that walks through many of the key topics of real estate investing.Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast - A weekly podcast with interviews and a ton of great advice.

But, as with everything don't lay all your eggs in 1 basket. try some other forms of advertisement, like Facebook, twitter, Instagram, craigslist, for example I don't have a lot of FB followers on my business page but, it get's me a lot of clicks to my website with a $5.00 boost campaign where I can collect data from buyers and sellers.

Fill in the foundation below.Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere Check out BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide - A fantastic free book that walks through many of the key topics of real estate investing.Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast - A weekly podcast with interviews and a ton of great advice.

I actually host a monthly meetup with a few other local members where we visit an active investment deal in the area.  

The last painter I hired, which granted is a fairly modest job compared to what many contractors are doing on your major renovation projects, my dude gave me copies of all the receipts + a summary of receipts page, as well as a bill showing his hours worked and hourly wage, and a final piece of paper that literally had $Parts + $Labor = $TotalBill.I felt that this was uber transparent and really appreciated it.