It is important to understand that ALL investment markets are cyclical and go up and down over time.Based on the concept of markets being cyclical I would suggest researching the markets that appear attractive to you based on your investment capital and looking for ones that are at the low end of their cycle.

From a personal finance and real estate perspective, Seattle is a very attractive place.Looking back at history, prices are higher than the last peak that had  a bubble.. so will the bubble burst this time around?!  

After an initial conversation, if the person is interested, I email copies of the application and acceptance criteria.To avoid vacancy and attract people who plan ahead, I always advertise well before the current tenants are moving out -- up to 60 days ahead.

They then kept me in the loop whenever something came on the market that was attractive and aligned with my investment criteria.  

If you were to seller finance it you could offer more attractive terms to potential buyers not to mention a much easier approval process (you only you need to approve them.)

I'm doing a cash offer and just want the big sized earnest money to attract the seller.

Gone are those days when we used to get REOs at very attractive price.....

I have come across multiple sellers who are selling off market and still attracting multiple offers.

It would be much more attractive if you can control a lot of the building in one go.

While the purchase price to rent ratio seems pretty attractive you need to know you cash flow,  and cash on cash return.