I would not waste your time with looking at the newspaper for good deals on properties.

it can be anywhere from 250 to 500 bucks.the thing about getting into bird dogging is a real investor isn't going to want to waste too much time on you if you don't have any idea what you're doing.and if you "think" something's a "good deal" and it's not - well then forget about it.

When your are dealing with a person that wants to sell their home,does anyone have a form with question that they ask to save on time so that know one is wasting time.

I would like to minimize the cost associated with managing the property and am willing to do as much of the work myself as possible but it seems like most of the work has to be done by someone local.

I never used my education, wealth, smarts or any of the things so many have and waste.

Other $$ possibilities are available for quartersawn (but more waste).Now go kick yourself.PS put your calculator away, I'm not telling how thick a slab is.

The main questions for a rehab project are: what is a REALISTIC sell price after it is fixed up (ARV), conservatively what will the repairs be in order to sell it for that price, and what can I buy it for.Then punch in your numbers, 70% of ARV minus repairs should be around what you think you can buy it for, or you are most likely wasting your time looking at it.On a side note, to get to 70% equity you will need to find a motivated seller with equity, so one of my total focuses when looking for deals is finding the motivated seller who has possible equity.

Real estate agents in general have a tendency to say that a property has positive cash-flow if it covers debt service and a minimal amount of vacancy and often ignores maintenence all together.

And all this time, I didn't want to "waste money" on an inspector!

The non-refundable deposit helps you pay for the extra holding cost associatied with the time they wasted....