Hello All,I am enjoying some of the new features of the new Rental Property calculator tool but I find it kind of limiting with the strategies I'd like to pursue. 

Its a good way to keep your costs down on your first few rentals and has a lot of support and good features for keeping the process manageable.

Don’t invest in areas that have an unemployment rate of 2% higher than the nearest major cityWhat do you guys think of these guidelines?

Ask locals for more infoSchoolswww.greatschools.comJobs versus Unemploymentwww.city-data.com/ Higher unemployment rate means you just need to screen the tenants betterPopulation Growthwww.usa.com/rank/Price to rent ratiowww.zillow.com/research/data/How to find:Median monthlyrental price/Median sales priceVacancy ratesHow to find:Ask local propertymanagers Remember that this will change with how well you manage the property Include the average so that when you have someone else managing, it won't be as goodProperty Tax andInsurance RatesCh. 9 How to Find Rental PropertiesThe MLS Find a GREAT agent Set up automatic alerts Quickly screen out the bad deals Make lots of offers Look for old listings Focus on distressed Make a clean offer (keep contingencies to a minimum)Direct Mail Marketingwww.listsource.com Success is found in repetition You need to build your brand One needs 8 interactions with a brand before they buyMore info:"The ultimate guide to using direct mail advertising to grow your real estate business" at www.biggerpockets.com/directmailDriving for DollarsLook for distressed houses, write them down, then look into the public records to see who owns it and get their phone numberEviction RecordsTake a trip to your local county administration office and ask to see a list of the current evictionsBiggerPockets MarketplaceJust look around once in a while and post whenever you need somethingCraigslist Search for sellers Post an ad Search for landlords Instead of wanting to rent from them, they are probably having a hard time managing it so offer to buy it from them.

I heard about it on a Youtube broadcast, and it looks like it has some great features at a great price.

If these are the only comps available in the area and you improve the home, you have to consider what value an appraiser might put on those improvements.I suggest asking the Realtor to revisit the CMA to see if there are any comps that are able to support a higher value and are updated with features you intend to offer.

Replicate as many features as possible in your property. 

If you don't wish to read it, I'll summarize by saying unemployment was double digit for many years (2009-2012), and took a lot longer to get back to previous levels in 2008.

I can't really say much since it depends on your property features.

The Sales Navigator feature allows for very specific (and unlimited) searches so you can better pinpoint the best people to network within your area.Once they accepted my connection I then reached out to them just asking if they were open to meeting and offer up any advice they may have.