What's the best way to come up with a solid contract that a good contractor would actually bid on and sign.Also, fast, cheap, quality ... choose 2.

If the appraisal was $400 (cheap, because Tennessee), that's 4% lost to fees right there!

I have people every week say "I am sure the bank would love to sell it to me cheap because it is costing them money now".

If you pay cheap for rent and you have positive cash flow from your tenants on your mortgage payment, I would say go for it.

There's a huge difference in overall quality and long-term viability between a cheap, tract-built 3-bedroom from 1960 and a custom-built, brick-veneer 3-bedroom of the same age.

Insulation is very cheap.

Houses here are cheap and there will always be a market for low cost rentals.

average price in Sydney is about 750k.. and they have whats called stamp duty which is about 20 to 30k per sale.. so when Aussie see low end 30 to 50k houses in the US they salivate exact same thought process of those that live in say LA or SF or NYC  .. houses so cheap and where they live so expensive.

My wife and I are going to check on our GA property and we plan to give our tenants a cheap bottle of wine and a $5-10 gift card. 

And if we ever decide to go non-profit, we can have a big fund raiser and buy a HUD home for super cheap to use as headquarters.