Getting the credit history established was the biggest hurdle for me, and a quick trip to the bank can tell you where you sit on the spectrum and what you can afford. 

The situation is that the home is under a lease for a remaining 6 months (assuming they won't leave earlier with incentives) prior to the time when I would move in.  

Access to the MLS is the biggest advantage in my opinion.  

So there's little incentive to stay in the bay when their money goes so much further out here and they can get the same nightlife, restaurants, etc.The lack of those "big city" features is what keeps the rest of the central valley lower on the list, as they simply aren't as desirable of places to live (who looks forward to moving to Stockton?)

I live 40 miles away, so I called the owner of the biggest plumbing co in the city and he and 2 techs drpped everything to get to the property within 10 minutes of my call.I had put a garage outdoor access remote on the outside of the house.. they couldn't get in thru that because THE POWER WAS NOW OFF.Luckily i had put a coded door knob on the kitchen door that opens to the deck-- i gave them the code and they were inside instantly.The water heater was STILL SPEWING WATER full blast in a stream so strong it was hitting the second story ceiling and hitting the ELECTRICAL PANEL also located in the garage and that's what had knocked out the power .The plumbers immediately turned off the inside water main cutoffand sent me photos of the EMERGENCY SITUATION the pm so calmly let me know about by email an hour earlier.i fired the pm co that instant and got on the phone to start farm (my rental policy ins co) whiledriving an hour to the property.i also called the city's best WATER EMERGENCY REMEDIATION COMpany while en route.When i got there, the water was turned off ( finally)the drywall ceiling had fallen in, the light fixtures destroyed, the garage door open case was HALF FULL OF WATER and there were 1000s of mold blooms on every surface and hundreds of stacks of spiky growing black mold (looked like iron fiilings we used to play with in that game we all had as kids where u use a magnet and drag the iron filings around to put hair and a mustache on the bald guy cartoon photo) the mold spikes were 1.5" tall on the woot railings and stairs going into the house, on all of my beautiful built in wooden garage shelves--- what a mess-- like the streets of Beirut after the bombs went offand I don't have allergies -- but i could not even STAND inside the garage because the WET MOLD MILDEW SMELL was so strong it instantly gagged me and gave me a headache and i couldn't breathe.So here Ewe are on Jan 17 and now i know that the BEST rental dwelling policy dies NOT COVER MOLD REMEDIATION AT ALL ( so far $14,000) but it does cover water damage with a $2500 deductible...

For me, one of the biggest things I got my license was for is the education, knowledge it provided me with.

It seems like cash to make deals happen is one of the biggest obstacles folks face.

And they're one of the biggest insurance scams of all time. 

Example: here, one of the biggest problems with a short sale can be back hoa dues, $10-20k.  

The biggest change from when I had rental property in the past is the 20 percent down to get into the properties I am anxious to get in but need to keep saving the 20 percent.