Also, make sure you have some back-up team members if any flake out.I'd recommend going to the market and really learning it - time spent with your team in the market is invaluable.By the way, you will want to start narrowing down your focus to a few neighborhoods - there are over 70 neighborhoods in Chicago alone and many more markets if you consider the different areas and blocks found within each neighborhood (not to mention the burbs).Good luck!

Typically I would just walk away, but all the homes in my price range have issues so I have got to narrow down my purchase on what items can be fixed, or forget buying a second home altogether.

Are you keeping track exactly who calls, so maybe you can narrow down a certain age of house or distance away that calls?

We spend time each weekend driving through different neighborhoods to get familiar with what’s out there… and ultimately narrow in on our comfort zone because we’d like to manage the property ourselves to learn the ins and outs of being a landlord.

Trying to narrow down what route I will go into for my first deal.

I used ListSource to narrow down absentee owners and the hottest zip code area.You can do this for free and then drive the locations to find vacant properties, which is what we do.  

You can search your local market and even narrow down using the filter icon to select "Real Estate Investments" as an area of focus.

I want to start building a portfolio with a bunch of passive income rentals and I know I have to start looking out of state if I want positive cash flow.I narrowed it down to three markets and was was wondering which one you guys think is best and why?

We have two renters narrowed down but can’t decide who to pick.

., those are great items to look for when you’re scanning for value add opportunities.If you’re a numbers guy, here is another technique I use to riffle through a bunch of listings on a site like LoopNet to narrow down potential investment options:1) Total Income - 5% vacancy factor = Annual Income2) Determine the annual expenses using the 50% rule you mentioned3) Calculate the Net Operating Income or NOI = (Annual Income -Annual Expenses)4) Determine the cap rate.