Sorry for your loss, that is a terrible situation to go through :(I posed a similar question recently as I am in the same situation, lots of equity not being used.

Definitely its a terrible place.

Not terrible. 

Of course, in this market there's no appreciation (a bit of the opposite in fact), relatively low inventory and terrible interest rates, so it doesn't work now (at least not very often) but it will be back sooner or later

The guys approach to business was just terrible though. 

@Matthew Berry Cost of living, supply and demand, taxes, insurance rates, and labor laws all have a big impact in my neck of the woods.For rough-ish estimates there's still nothing better than previous experience, combined with Homewyze, and multiple bids.I'm not terribly happy with what's out there, so I'm building my own.  

Every Bitcoin ATM I've used or tried to use had a terrible exchange rate.

"Every legal angle" sounds terrible to me because it suggests some savvy self-taught legal eagles. 

By offering them cash to give up their keys it gives the landlord the ability to move forward.It is somewhat of a divisive topic.Some will say it is a lot smarter to pay a tenant money (e.g, $300) and be able to immediately start to look for new tenants, not deal with attorney fees, eviction, etc.Others will argue it sets a terrible precedent and as soon as your other tenants find out (if any of them want to leave their lease early) they know all they have to do is be a pain and not pay rent and you will offer them money to get out.You can decide if it is for you . . .

I would not consider it terribly overbuilt yet, but there are spots to avoid, like southside, but that's mainly because the buying price to rental rate is out of whack now that there are a whole bunch of new apartments.