Last fall we converted a large garage space into a super efficiency apartment.

Nowhere in the communication with the selling agent we have mentioned that we will pay the seller or we will do pest work on the property.

Anyway, purpose on this site is to meet new people, get ideas and try to maximize my efficiency in doing what I'm doing, assuming its even a good idea in the first place.

The most efficient way to do this is buy for full retail "at market" with cash.

My attitude is to forget work/life balance while building the business and just focus on working hard, developing processes and improving efficiency, so that once you have things running efficiently, you can then enjoy the work/life balance.

Plus I wanted to shorten my learning curve and have that one on one communication as I encounter issues.

If you get involved with institutional notes as outlined by Dave, brokers will probably be the most efficient to work with.

For Efficiency, One-Bedroom, Two-Bedroom, Three-Bedroom, and Four-Bedroom in my area here's the breakdown: Final FY 2013 FMR $634 $741 $878 $1,137 $1,412 Final FY 2012 FMR $681 $763 $849 $1,067 $1,105 Final FY 2011 FMR $695 $779 $867 $1,090 $1,129 I'd call us overall flat.

Since you are not local to the property,communication(weekly updates with before and after pictures) through out the entire process would be a main factor for me.

I simply don't believe they can manage more efficiently than the experienced local buyer.