When you find one that you like that does, I ask them to run the numbers for various scenarios (VA financing with restored entitlement, conventional, FHA), keeping in mind the property that you currently own and occupy.  

We have found that most people would rather just pay for the lead and move right into contacting the prospect rather than spend time running down to the courthouse, researching probate cases, only to find out the lead is worthless and the time was wasted.

While the property may not still return 20% cash on cash, it would not be losing money on a monthly cash flow basis (hopefully..)But I think that is lazy and irresponsible, especially if you own anything more than a property or two.So I generally try to run what if scenarios on each property and then subsequently run what ifs on my larger portfolio to make sure that the portfolio can weather any economic storm that may come through.I have only been in RE for a few years and didn't gain the experience from 2008 so my question to the group is what scenarios do you test or have you encountered? 

I will be running a background check for some applicants for the first time and I was wondering what resources you use to do that?

Depends on the type of GC you're looking for.The guys picking up material early in the morning at HD/Lowes/Menards are unlikely to run a very tight ship or handle large scale jobs.

If you can find a condo with an active HOA and one that has a healthy reserve and is run well, condos are amazing investments.  

Rehab costs will run $20-$25k.  

It is a loan and a loan wouldn't be considered income. 5) While I am not assuming you don't know this, one of the most common misconceptions I regularly run into, is the idea that Cash Flow= Income.

It can be a hassle physically running around picking stuff up but most of my trusted subs are armed with my Lowes account cards.

Some questions I'm already thinking of include:What is "value engineering"?