I have also found out that the owner of this company has all the asset managers for the banks on "speed dial" which is preventing everyone else from gaining access to these properties. 

Thanks Account Closed  I am in the process of acquiring business line of credit and home equity.

I appreciate the support and help of this community.I currently own one rental property that is 1 side of a twin home acquired through an off market deal through some dumb luck (asked a co worker about his house once just for an understanding of no association, and he called me 3 months later and asked me if I wanted to buy his, he was moving across country).  

Decide how much money you have access to, & the zip codes, city or state you want to focus on.

Two of the safe harbors that can help you deduct improvements are below:1) 2500 de minimis safe harbor.the safe harbor applies to amounts paid during the tax year to acquire or produce what the regs call a “unit of property” (UOP), you must meet these requirements: (1)you need to have written accounting procedures treating as an expense for non-tax purposes amounts paid for property costing less than a specified dollar amount (which will be 2500 for you), or with an economic useful life of 12 months or less;.(2) the taxpayer treats the amount paid for the property as an expense on its books and records in accordance with its accounting procedures. ( do this on your bookkeeping software or whatever you utilize)(3) the amount paid for the UOP doesn't exceed $2,500. as substantiated by the invoiceNote: The cost for the Unit of Property includes l additional costs (for example, delivery fees, installation services, or similar costs) if these additional costs are included on the same invoice with the property.2) Small taxpayer safe harbor: To be eligible for the safe harbor, the total amount of improvements for the property for the tax year may not exceed the lesser of $10,000 or2% of the property's unadjusted basis.If the total amount paid exceeds the safe harbor threshold, the safe harbor does not apply to any amounts spent during the tax year.

Install submeters if the plumbing is accessible and makes sense.

Preferly a broker that has access to loans with 2 banks or more (Orlando Area) Thanks,

Your agent should have access to the MAR home inspection addendum or the GCAAR addendum of clauses form to include as part of the contract.

Whereas older housing stock can be more difficult to renovate - especially when it once was a large single family that has been spliced into apartments.If I was to build a Multi-Family property from the ground up, I could control the lay out of the units, where the housing systems were located and their path to and from the basement, I could construct panels to access shower fixtures etc.

Steven.Would love to help you acquire rental properties out of state.I live in LA and do the exact same thing and have a small portfolio build up.Would love to help you get started!