I know my neighborhoods, i have a good idea of the type and condition of home im looking for and have been window shopping extensively with online mls tools, bank reo sites, and some drive by.Im comfortable with estimating and who/how things will be fixed and upgraded.I know my purchase and reno budget.Ive been researching and studying extensively and have a bit of "carryover" knowledge from other areas.My first sanity check questions for the group have to do with financing and an agent.

If so, I would take pictures, change the locks, and call it a day and re-rent it.If there's some stuff there and it's junk, I would discreetly get rid of it, take pictures, and deny (til you die) that there was anything there.If there's good stuff there (furniture, clothes, tools, appliances, medication, etc.)

Existing thread:http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/80/topics/65934-looking-for-skip-trace-tools-to-track-down-sellers

I would love to use the tool as a means to get local neighbors to share an interest in a troubled property.

Your main bargaining tool would be your budget for the project.

Hard money is a great tool to leverage, and is a nice stepping stone to establish a portfolio to eventually setup using private equity.

I agree with Bill about business cycles and including a lot of tools in your toolbox.

Since this was a estate sale I did not have the cheaper mediation/arbitration tools available to me and suing the seller would have cost as much money as the pest remediation problem.Also after we notified the selling agent that we were backing out he forwarded an email to me where my realtor had asked the seller to do the Section 1 of the pest work before the appraisal.

Welcome to BP Dustin, I'm not in the teaching phase yet, just beginning myself, but this site is an incredible learning tool, look around and check out the articles and forums.

Lease-Options are just a tool to use in RE investing or in dealing in RE.