I charge a 5% markup on contractor services... and it's a deal for my clients.

Thank you for your service @Jesse Anderson.

  :)My comment about most SoCal has to do with the current price points, affordability, and rent-to-value ratios. 

Looking for an affordable contractor and landscaper in PG County MD.

Basically I'm wondering if I should be looking into big deals with the hopes of finding private investors to finance the deal or if I should stay small until I can afford to put all the money up myself.

Check out the past and upcoming meetings on Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/Sacramentos-Real-Estate-Clu...Or through the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SacRealEstateClub/ and a Facebook group for posting Sacramento deals, haves & wants, services, etc:https://www.facebook.com/groups/sacrealestateclub/The meetup page has information about the location, date and times.Hopefully we'll see you there!

You think its hard to find affordable housing now, just wait and see.

The tenant will then sign the estoppel to attest to its content.This is by far the best way to find out if there are any discrepancies in the information provided by the vendor (like the monthly rent being paid by one tenant is actually $100/month less that what is written into the lease, because he's the owners son and he vacuums the corridors and sweeps/shovels the walks).You can do the same thing with any service providers (i.e. snow removal or garbage service).

Try to get as close to downtown with what you can afford.  

I subscribe to different services and marketing tools that really drive up my cost/mo for being a realtor..If you were just using it to look at properties and to save the "3%" (it's not really the full 3... as per Russell's post) it probably won't be worth it at the moment, but if you decided to pursue investing, it is an amazing tool.