I have read some of Hipster Investments's posts and background too, which intrigued me.

I have been lurking here for the past few months, and finally decided to start an account.Some background: I work as an Assistant Real Estate Agent, which basically means I need some classes, and a certification from our local board of realtors, but can't really help clients all that much.

I would suggest that your property management company use buildium.com to keep you informed about your rental income and insist that they use fabcogroup.com for credit and background checks.

My background is in mortgage lending.

Some background on me: I am 28 and live in San Antonio, Texas.

None of us has conducted background checks.

Casey Anderson, great seeing some more people in Alabama on this site, and even more so seeing those with a similar background!

I have focused primarily in RE/municipal/corporate law and I think I have a fairly strong background in the contract side of things (purchase and sale, leases, etc.).I come from a family of plumbers and contractors - my dad owns and operates a remodel company and I have a couple of years experience working in that field prior to law school.

Very tough times right now in the rental business.I am one of the few landlords I know with 100% occup. right now but I had to pay for it, reduced all my rents 10% across the board to keep my good tenants, and my last vacancy took 5 months to fill and I had to drop my rent 20% from the previous lease to fill it.Everywhere I look are for rent and for sale signs and the tenant quality had degraded tremendously .. credit ratings, background checks etc, which equates to higher damages for landlords and less ability to collect on those expenses .. experience speaking there..Taking on a rental property for a flip is a dangerous game unless you can fully afford to fund the payments for a LONG time and still make a better profit then the risk free rate of return on cash.One bad tenant, not paying, damages, legal problems, and you could be looking a total loss of investment.. which could be considerable to get a mortgage these days.That said:Property Taxes, Insurance costs, upfront renovation costsHouse Age < 10 years preferredRoof Age < 10 year < 5 years preferredInsulation QualityElectrical system ageHeating/Cooling System Age < 10 years < 5 years preferredFloors (Carpets are a hole you throw money into), tile preferredKitchen and Baths (Expensive renovations)You have to be able to accept rental payments up to 20% below the market to get a good tenant and credit and background checks are mandatory .. so longer empty periods are expected right now.Personally, I think this is a great time to begin to build a rental business as properties are available well below rebuilding costsand hence will appreciate but OJT Landlord training will be expensive ESPECIALLY NOW!

The last meeting was dominated by a board member who has a "frat house" operating down the street and I think there is risk the rules get even tighter if hosts and managers stop showing up to the meetings.