Making contacts(via the internet), drafting a plan, getting my credit in line, securing funds, but I am finding I keep coming across a common road block.

Do you do all the maintenance, or put some or all of it on the tenant buyer?

Maintenance @ 5%: $696 Taxes: $527 Insurance: $500 Utility Expenses: $2,951 Total Expenses: $4,674 Net Operating Income: $6,460 Debt Service: $4,126 Pre-Tax Cash Flow: $2,334 Expenses/Unit: $1,558.00 Unit #1SF: 660Avg.

You may not have noticed yet because maybe you're managing it yourself (earning the property management fee of about $75/month) and doing maintenance yourself and avoiding (so far) big sporadic expenses like paying for a new roof or fixing the damage after an eviction.If you refi to 30 years on the $58K, you could get the payment down to about $385, making it only a little worse than break even.

What I'm now looking for is a some of the common pitfalls associated with this sort of deal.

In the State of Texas, a Land Trust is used by investors mainly to effectively mask the identity of the owner.The common reason for needing to mask the owners identity is when someone takes over the mortgage but the mortgage stays in the name of the seller.

I drive around and look for the places that are falling apart or have significant deferred maintenance.

Seems like 50% is pretty common for residential properties.

Advertising, Running Credit Checks, Collecting rents electronically (automatic and recurring), or Managing maintenance problems -- then you'll want a different kind of solution.Here are some best-of-class recommendations for each transaction type:[list]Advertising - RentMarketer.comCredit Checks - Tenant NetworkCollecting Rents - PayRents or RentPayment.comFinding Maintenance Personnel with user reviews - Angie's List, CircleChoice.com[/list:u]If you're looking for one place that does all of those things in one place, then my company is one that can help.

These properties are four to five years old that they built and I do not know the financials, ie down payment, maintenance set aside and so on.Good Luck,Jason