Joshua Dorkin must be loving life right now...

Actually I'm leaving next week for basic training so I won't be able to check the forum for a while.

Rent ready condition and resale condition are 2 different things.In most states to manage other people's properties you HAVE to be licensed period.Unless you employ them or other loopholes available in your state.I am telling you that YOU WANT to use a property manager.If you try to cut a few bucks it will cost you severely later on.Look at www.irem.org These are highly trained property professionals.There is a search down to the area for broker/agents.REALTOR doesn't mean squat and it has nothing to do with licensing or training as a property manager.Do not look for agents who will do a rental cheaper on the side.They will not screen the tenant properly,will not check up on the property enough,as soon as a regular sale comes along many will dump your property as a priority for a big sales check.This is why you want a property manager that only does rentals and not sales.They have a vast network of tenants and a system in place to handle problems.They have already pre-screened tenants.That small amount of money you think you will be saving will pale in comparison when you have months of lost rent,damage to the property,re-doing eviction because the broker/agent messed up the papers and bought the tenants another 2 free months.Take it from someone that deals with over 20 tenants as an investor or default home owner having to rent.

, their level of responsibility and authority and the biggest one is can they be trusted (have they been trained) to deal with your tenants in a way that you and your interests are always represented in the most positive light.There is a book out titled The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber that addresses the issue of expanding a business from just the original founder and doing it successfully.

I had 2 finance majors, seniors work for me and they did very good work, but I did have to train on the job.

I'm a personal training studio owner and brand new to the real estate scene.

I am looking to buy 2-4 family buildings in 2 areas close to NYC.I'm looking for an "intelligent" thought process as to which area is a better investment.I'm usually a long term investor who buys and holds unless there is a crazy market like before but I don't expect that anytime soon.Area 12 Family is 200k.Taxes 3kRent $1900 (950x2)Travel time to NYC is 35 minutes and you need to take 2 trains. ($4.00 each way)This area is a rough area that was getting better and now is quiet.I had a few buildings here and sold all but one in 2008 because prices went up so much so fast so I took the profit.I can get good tenants but I have to show the unit 10-15x.

The broker has about 3500 agents, so there is a good training and support infrastructure.

I think it was really giving me training to go work for someone than it was to prepare me to invest for myself.

They have training video's.