A middle-aged man can make sound financial decisions, live a financially responsible life, and get hit with a catastrophe that crushes him.I just don't believe that the majority of bankruptcies fall into that category.

those type of homes are all throughout houston... id believe the agent i went to see a house once that was listed 100k, it got done 105k ... about the same 1600 sqft 3 bed 2 bath ... the house had a tarp on the roof, it was raining and leaking in, foundation problems all over... whoever bought that would need to put in 50k at least if not more.but if it rents for say 1350-1400 a month, then there will be an investor willing to do that deal and roll with the riskcap rates in houston are pretty low and in most major metros are much lower while there is still a ton of money everywhere looking to find yield

First time poster here, hoping to become an active member going forward.   

If not you will end up as just another faith investor.With the value pushing up into the $600K range your rents are far too low and need to be ajusted upward or as I stated you will need to sell to maintaine the returns on your equity.Unfortunatly the majority of CA seemes to be a losing investment market for cash flow so inevitably you will need to either get out or heavily supliment your tenants rent out of your own pocket.

True story-- on one of our last open houses-- the cops came by because there was too much activity (15-20 people?)

You need to make sure that they are an active participant in your program.As examples:if you say you are looking to find off market properties, that would mean that the agent would need to call around neighborhoods looking for potential sellers and follow up vacant home leads. 

Enough major repairs might be better off ran through a contractor.

The most time consuming activity is renting units. 

back in the day when I was really active in Jackson MS funding 5 different turn key operators there.. one of my vendors.. kept on putting properties on his website that he did not own.. 

Majority American investors took a head wind lost their safe heaven from 401K recently.