I stumbled across this article and thought it was a good read for some of you guys that are developing. http://urbanland.uli.org/Articles/2011/September/SheridanMilitary

Cash only" tells me that the condo development no longer qualifies for conventional financing (too many investors/delinquent fee's/ and/or other issues.The selling agent may not be able to disclose too much info to you, but you have a right to know about material facts that affect the property.

No if you asking price is way less than the list price then the investor may develop some sort of respect for you.

(I've worked in online web site development and programming for 20 yrs, but it's getting a little old and doesn't pay as well as it used to.)

My quad's come out to 64,000 a door for 850 to 950 a month in rent on my apartments.I don't look at it only from a cash flow perspective however.The area I have the buildings in is an A location prime for redevelopment down the road.Mike it sounds like your local market is competitive with investors and your margins are thin.On one hand it is good to be in a thriving market where demand is strong because usually supply is lower and the amount of rentals and new development for multifamily cannot meet demand.This helps rents grow at a rate that outpaces utility increases and inflation.The downside is it can make some investors overspend on a property because they feel good about the market.I looked for over 2 years before I bought something.I said many times those buyers were nuts.I tracked the properties and many investment properties after purchase just 1 to 2 years later went into foreclosure.They bought at such a price that it wasn't sustainable.I look for a 10 CAP or better on my purchases.The problem is if you someone who has only gotten 1 percent interest off of a CD or Treasuries or they have gotten beat up in the stock market.Those types of buyers jump up and down to get a 7% annual CAP return beating out your offers everyday of the week.By in large many buyers like this can be lazy.They only look in the MLS for listed properties.Value can be found marketing to sellers that are not on the market.They don't want to make public all of their problems ( I know it is common knowledge of default at some point but this is their mindset ).

The problem is that you should be quite long-term as I don't see retail buyers getting loans anytime soon in these heavily investor developments.

Develop a relationship with a licensed realtor in your area.

Don,Will,and John are right on.What a typical Guru will do is throw the meat out there and get the potential investor in a frenzy and then they will buy a course to only get mostly fluff.I can tell you being a commercial broker and investor is hard work.I was breaking down trash the other day from a tenant that left so that bulk would pick it up from one of my units.I don't look at the work but where it will get me too and the experience and learning.Once you accept that you will work smart but also very hard you will get ahead.If you keep believing in silver bullets to instant riches then you will spend years trying every BS infomercial and magazine gig out there.What gets me is people with an investing dream getting the little money they have sucked away by a GURU that thinks they are just a number and revenue builder making them richer and richer.

However, I understand FHA lenders do have a restriction, therefore, if you buy a condo or townhouse in a certain development that's heavily NOO, it could cause problems in the future when you try to sell.

If both public sewer and water are available are available, the minimum lot area is 20,000.The property is bordered by a main road (with manhole covers every X number of feet)and a McMansion development.