@Richard Kelly Solar panels are not cheap, they may not be the most beautiful thing in the neighborhood but they look like they were professionally installed and in great shape.

If you ever want to get together to throw ideas around I am sure I'm right around the corner from you!

I am currently renting an apartment in LA with my brother and we believe we are throwing money out the window by not using that money to pay down a mortgage instead. 

I'm sure a lawsuit here, a natural disaster there... throw in a bad tenant or a downturn in the market, etc. these will make 'averages' skew downward drastically when the investor is just starting out and only has a few properties.

I'm sure it wouldn't be terribly hard to throw a site together to allow people to book direct. 

I covered the cheap counters with contact paper to look like high end marble (~$100), framed the mirrors with trim (~$10 per mirror), upgraded old carpet to vinyl plank ( Lessons learned?

Way cheaper, no legal issues, more respect and there is a decent chunk of cheap or free training out there from the mega brokerages.

Hoping to invest in cheap multi and single families for long term rentals.

The group is made up of people who are trying to create great cash flow and build wealth through apartment investing - and there's a lot of different ways to get involved and join a General Partnership (and a much better use of capital).Happy to help any way I can... again, this may not fit your goals or be the path you're wanting to go down, but I wanted to throw another option out there for you! 

. * Don't allow financing or a finance contingency (it can be a good indication they are selling above market value)* Don't allow for your own independent property inspection* Are not realistic with their pro forma's (i.e. they don't include vacancy or maintenance projections or use      unrealistically low vacancy factors)* Require you to pay for any renovation upfront* Sell only in cheap. low end neighborhoods* Don't accurately represent the neighborhood/property classification* Don't have consistent rehab standards for all properties* Don't provide a scope of work for the property* Can't provide references of repeat investors* Require you to close before a tenant is in place