I think I have a good idea of how certain areas will perform, BUT I still need to talk to local landlords to get a first hand opinion.Like Johnson H. said, some investors go for cash flow while others trade for future appreciation, etc.

If you stick with trying to make $30K, you may eventually find a deal, but you'll also probably lose many deals in the meantime.Only you can determine how to proceed based on your goals and what you're willing to sacrifice to achieve them.

If your goal is $3-5K per month ($36-60K per year), and you expect to make about 15% cash-on-cash on your investment (not unreasonable with a relatively low risk profile), you'll need somewhere between $240-400K invested.If you have more than that, you can reduce your risk profile and still maintain that level of cash flow; if you have less than that, you can still achieve your desired level of cash flow, but you'll have to increase your risk profile.

Recent SOLDS of your immediate area will show what buyer expectations and price points are for the the location.Remember ACTIVES are the sellers expectations which mean nothing.You will have a mix of sellers with realistic to unrealistic pricing and different levels of motivation.So you have to take active pricing with a grain of salt.Also with solds an investor might have achieved a high sales price but gave away the farm in concessions making their walk away NET less than an investor who sold for 6,000 lower.Drilling down to your local demographic versus the national picture is key when flipping.

Typically I set some goals that I try to achieve each week and track my progress that way.Weekly goals are 1. 50 direct mailings - absentee, probate, vacant houses, etc2.

Here is my situation:Part time Real Estate investor with several properties owned free and clearNeed to leverage properties to grow business660 Credit Score (FICO)45K Credit Card debt145K Mortgage80K income (full time job)One late payment (30 days) 2 years agoUnable to use 48k year in rental income due to last two years tax shows negative income (properties were purchased and rehabbed during this time)Bank deal - Approved mortgage with the following stipulations- Debt to income is too high - Bank would require that 18000K goes to CC Debt at closing- 2500k Loan CostOR - depends on increasing credit score to 680 min 720 optimal- Bank Line of Credit (for this they will use rental income plus job income- Low fee's for loanMy question is "How can I achieve a relatively quick score increase by 20-50 points?

I would certainly want to have a first hand look before plunking down any money.

Many people refinance properties to maintain the required leverage to achieve their ROE goals.

It seems from my observations of people with a lot of accumulated wealth that many of them achieved wealth through concentrating their bets where they are highly skilled investors.

If the quality is not as good do you have a tenant not as happy or can't achieve market rent on that unit?