You definitely will want to call the landlords of the past places they rented to make sure they have taken care of the property well.I would also have a trustworthy maintenance person that will occasionally check on the properties (drive-by sort of thing) and that is available for the tenant to call if there is a problem.Direct rent deposit is a good way to almost guarantee on-time rent payments.

The other day I wrote a post about driving 26 hours to view a few properties 500 miles from me that were in different states of repair/purchase.

Drive to Fremont to hand over the check??

Steve Wozniak did go back to finish and Steve Jobs stated this hurt his drive toward success.

The appreciation in my city has been consistent over the past 9+ years at 9-10% growth per year.

Held for investment means an asset you are holding for the long term growth plus the income.

MLS, FSBO, driving my "farm" looking for "not so hot looking" yards and exteriors, word of mouth, tired landlords etc, etc.The two worst sources were the first 2.

I see that personally as I drive through town and see the closed mortgage brokers' offices.

DRIVE- best way of finding property is to take long drives into areas that you may or may not know-unknown streets and cities. generally when you see overgrown grass and general unkept look you've found a possible deal. thats one way, the other is to look in the RE books in the market and checkout realtor listings,get 2-3 books.lastly is google "foreclosure listings" in your area. you have got to your end of the legwork- otherwise the deals will pass you by.

I took the OP to mean that he will drive traffic to the site through direct marketing techniques to sellers, and therefore the site needs to be geared toward sellers.