It is work for single family and small multifamily, too but the volume is so different that "driving for dollars" and various online searches as discussed many times in BP and elsewhere work really well for mailings or phone calls. 

Through my W2 employer I've learned how to take 360-degree photos and stitch them together into a virtual tour where you can then go online and "walk" through the house.I'm now trying to decide if it would be worth it to purchase the license for the software and camera for my personal use and begin offering this service to other realtors and investors, and do it for my own properties. 

Most counties have options to access the Tax Assessor, Recorder of Deeds and other sites for real estate records online.

That's strictly a cashflow mentality since he seldom assumed appreciation.Colorado is experiencing major appreciation, so you could lower your payback standards since your profits would come from appreciation.Finishing the basement: Assuming $15,000 to get an extra $250/month, that's a payback of 60 months or 5 years.

My current thought is to look for a small multi-family unit to get started; I'm looking around a cost that is around 60% of my net worth in full - but of course, I'd like to leverage a mortgage so the majority of my net worth can remain invested elsewhere (incl. other properties in the future).My current state (I'll add more as time goes on if folks are posting):* Just got pre-approved for a %5.25 loan from Quicken with 0 points...

Plus, it's a total waste of time.All transfers are recorded at the county level, and many counties around the country have on-line sites where you can review transfers. 

My friends were amused when I wondered how I would deal with the loss of my Internet connection (which could be serious when doing online investing).

Also, as far as good signs for a market: look for job growth, population growth in the area in the last several years, see how many major employers are there, whether these major employers can sustain the population growth, whether these are the types of employers that will remain for a long time (in demand, like a Hospital or  College), also how close is a town to the large metro, can people get to work under one hour.

There have been people on the BP podcast that have been accused of major fraud.

She owes very little on her mortgage as she's lived there for 30 years.Our house value according to Zillow (since we haven't had appraisals done yet): $620k built 2000, does not need any major work.