They had the listing for the first two months and after doing some quality control spot checking on the listing, I realized they were doing a HORRIBLE job marketing and maintaining the property. 

I have been very fortunate since the crash to learn from a number of high quality investors such as @Chad Carson.

There are the superficial indicators of a good flip as well – proximity to major city hubs and transportation, quality of local school, crime stats in the neighborhood, etc.

@John Fortes Absolutely, yeah I'm not interested in trying to force a mentorship out of it because I know that if they weren't into it then it would probably not be the best quality anyway.

Personally, I wouldn't even start looking for deals until this was lined up because when you are up against a lot of excellent cash buyers and you are interested in getting deals with equity, you need to have the ability to move quickly and decisively---be the buyer that is remembered and the deals will come :) 

The two ways to change a property's value is to alter market behavior or to alter the subject's qualities.

Local Legislation, tenant pool quality, tax legislation, natural disasters, job market growth, saturation of real inventory, and real estate market disruptions through innovation are a few of the things that you cannot control.

I have been looking for nice quality small homes to purchase for buy and hold to offer a quality home for rent to a family.

I have been looking for nice quality small homes to purchase for buy and hold to offer a quality home for rent to a family.

I hesitate letting the tenant do work because you’ll never really know the quality until it’s too late.