as long as it is low balance/ empty when you go to finance... it isnt a big deal. 

Low crime makes any location more desirable, so you can usually search crime maps.

I have a house that's under contract. I'm buying it at $150,850 (motivated seller) and 4 years ago it sold for $187,500. It is in the same shape as before.The appraisal came in at $155,000 and will cause me more than ...

It also gives you landlording experience for a relatively low downpayment ( < 5%).

So my initial strategy was to have my loan repayment be as low as I can (income-based) and use that extra money to invest.

@Kameisha Campbell My favorite free/low cost sources are:1.

This is my dream, and I'm willing to make it happen no matter what, but I am low on creative solutions.

A good one will take care of filling units with low maintenance tenants cause they want to spend as little time and effort getting paid as possible.

This Councilwoman says landlords are “raking in cash “ .. in Oakland where cap rates are super low these days .. if one can cash flow at all ..

If my low ball offer is accepted, and I end up spending a total of $5-7,000 (adding in extra for labor and any surprises)  on repairs, with an estimated monthly income of $650-700 in rent, and yearly taxes at around $1,000 I'm estimating I could make a pretty decent profit, according to my math it would pay itself off in less than 3 years.