holy crap this is an amazing tool... can get property values estimated by the county, shows history of whether they're paying the taxes, etc... name of owner/s, wow i can't believe all this info is available for anyone to see!

you could try searching on craigslist for rentals in your area, then contact the rentors and just tell them your situation and ask if they have a lot of difficulty collecting full rent from tenants.just bear in mind that some might be pretty close-minded, and give you a line of crap talking about how horrible it is, just to scare you away from moving into their area and thus increasing the competition.

I would prefer to have a home warranty in place over paying for the inspection...just peace of mind...even if home warranties are crap...which they kind of are...

So many times I see agents doing an open house for other agents and don't know crap about it. 

I've done some crap deals that turned into a total bust. 

And especially if it's a piece of crap that needs another $20K worth of work.

Crap loans are offered by tons of lenders out there and all the same.

Those shower wall systems are over priced crap.

I could do all that because I saved every penny, didn't have student loans (thank you community college and all my credits transferring to my actual college), and didn't buy crap I didn't need.So I think without time, money, know-how, or "much going for you" -- you need to figure out what your ultimate goal is and then start working towards it.

The condition or effective age is.   30year old property can be beat to crap.