Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs:@Julian Buick  99% of folks send letters or post cards they are just like RE yellow letters with stock verbiage that is virtually the same from each person trying to buy them.. the stuff you learn at eddie speed or bodiford those kind of guys.I was pleasantly surprised at the last batch of note marketing I received.  

However we had some surprises, as usual, along the way.Property specs prior: 3 Bed, 1 bath, 1200 Square feet with an illegal abortion of an addition for another 300 sqft. 

hi rafeal. i have a number of different ways to find the owners, usually they are free  also. first, find the house, then check with the local tax assessors office. they may have a new address for the owner. second, county websites often list the owner. most often, it will list the owner as living in the house, which we know is not the case. then, if you get the owners name, check the website for any other houses he or she may own in the area. chances are they live in one of the other houses. if they do not own any other houses, run their names on whitepages.com. you might be surprised with what you come up with. as a last resort, i knock  on neighbors doors around the house. its amazing what neighbors know. 

However, once the deposit is made, I transfer the money out into two separate accounts....one that goes to pay the mortgage and the balance in my emergency fund. 

It may take calling 40-80 banks.The other thing to really consider and I see this overlooked quite a bit is to have a reserve emergency fund. 

I'm definitely leaning more towards the VA option, I just want to see if any of you have good reasons for or against either option.Ryan Conventional pricing is around mid 4's to higher 4's while VA pricing in the lower 4.00's but if you price the VA to be on "par," with conventional meaning the VA loan with no VAFF (VA funding fee 2.15 - 3.30%) then you'd have a similar rate to the conventional loan apples to apples pricing wise.The one advantage you had mentioned is that the scenario above wouldnt be  apples to apples when it comes to down payment because the VA loan would have 0% down while the conventional loan you could have as low as 3-5% down (with PMI paid monthly or within rate or split premium).Also, you only have VA entitlement (if not already tied up else where) for usually one property or home so by using conventional you can keep an ace in the back pocket or conversely you could do a low down conventional low with no monthly MI and keep the VA in the back pocket for emergencies or future planning (in case you plan to move out to get another primary shortly after 1 year again).VA loan also has a lot of YSP or yield spread premium so you can do no down and no closing cost pretty easily or use the credits towards paying off the VAFF or taxes/interest/insurance etc while the conventional loan does not nearly have as much YSP or lender credit to offer so your ability to strategically plan with your rate is not as readily available as VA.Generally, I'd say VA all the way 90% of the time but there are reasons to keep it available.

I'm sure there will be capital expenditures and vacancies and other surprises that eat into that but for the sake of argument, let's say $400 a month cash flow is attainable, which it definitely is.

I don't have much experience so don't be surprised if I ask a bunch of dumb questions.

To my surprise, they said yes immediately.

I was surprised by the amount of properties that weren't cleaned.