You experience will serve you well as you look to start fresh and operate from a more professional level.

The majority of the residents were students in the college there.

What risk level is there with staying put, vs. doing something different?

You do this through inventory levels and driving the neighborhoods.Second, you must know what comps to use, what comps to toss, and of the used comps, how to adjust for accuracy.

Jon, what would you say is a healthy level (%} of home ownership in the US?

I don't know when the housing mess will be over and our debt to income levels will be down to reasonable levels, levels where we feel we can put more cash toward spending vs paying down debt.

Jon KIf my occupancy level remains as high as it has been(1-3%) I'll start increasing the rents.

Nice small town with a community college and very few rental properties.

I disagree about the charging the upfront fee makes a serious buyer.I can't tell you how many scammers I have seen in the commercial lending arena.I can say one problem lenders face is they get a package submitted to them and then give an LOI.Then in due diligence the buyer finds out the income levels and returns were not as stated.Now the lender wants a bigger payment down from the buyer or the buyer has to get the seller to reduce to the actual proven numbers.The deal falls out and the lender made nothing.The way to solve this is submit a detailed and verified package upfront.This way you know the numbers you are sending have been verified.Lenders site confidentiality etc. when doing loans so you can't verify other properties they have closed.If lenders state money has to be in escrow or a deposit have YOUR attorney hold in an account the lender does not have access to or authorization to.This way the money can be shown to be there and earmarked for the purposes of the loan.I am telling you these scammers will do anything to separate you from your money.I know some deals I wasn't involved in where the people chased the lender for 6 months to get back 500k.Do not let lenders PUFF fees.If they say they have to pay for appraisal then tell them you will pay the appraiser directly.If you are a legit lender and you make money when you close a loan you should have no problem with this.If however you are a fee generator mill and you hardly close anything or a point taker with upfront fees I can't tell clients to work with you.Some point takers take money to submit apps knowing the lender will not close or that it's a sham.They usually charge a small amount upfront to entice the victim.Usually 500 to a few thousand.

With that being said, I see this Summit as a tremendous opportunity to take my REI education to a whole new level and learn from people I've come to know and trust here on BP.