There is absolutely no need to pay the typical $thousands of dollars to buy one.If you end up buying one, or better yet, taking one over, you will want to join a reputable club that facilities trades from one location to another, so you don't end up staying at the same place each time.

@Jason CobbWhat are similar buildings (10-20 units) trading for in this area.

To manage this volume, requires improving our systems and hiring the services of more trades people.

Knowing as much as you know about construction and the trades is going to give you a huge leg up on most beginning investors.Just keep in mind that there are investor prices for rehabbing and there are retail pricing for rehab work.

Then they use a trade name that drops the ending (just like many LLCs do).In fact, I think "Realty Corporation" or "Realty Corp" sounds a little weird and confusing.But again, that's just me...and it's quite possible I'm in the minority here...

I consider these A areas so there is a trade off with cash flow for higher quality tenants and a higher rent amount.

As to the Trades, their local knowledge about what is going on and quite often a deep understanding of how the internal structures of the homes in each neighborhood were constructed. 

Pinellas offers some of the worlds best beaches, and industry with several large publicly traded companies calling it home.The area was the first "suburbs" of Tampa, its a quick drive across the bridge to the airport, the Westshore business district and really down town Tampa.  

In that same idea, the old trade line is closed and a new trade line is open, so the term of the trade line is short.  

There are also several trades there and by listening in on others' discussions, it should lead into some networking.