As the old saying goes, "it is better to be an idiot on an uptrend than a genius on a downtrend". One of the reasons I chose to start investing 450 miles away from where I was living was the trends. Jobs were being created and homes were selling in the area I chose. The city was right in the path of development, homes were priced right and I felt like there was a definate uptrend coming. The city I was living in at the time was still moving in a downtrend. There is no sense in investing in an area still moving down because the best deals are still to come.

So you don't know anything about rehab? No problem. You don't even know anything about painting?

I believe one of the most powerful marketing tools for any small real estate investor is Craigslist. It is useful for both attracting deals, finding sellers and finding buyers, and best part is it costs absolutely nothing.

The the third quarter MBA report stated:
"63 percent were cases where the borrower did not live in the home, the borrower did not respond to repeated attempts by the lender to contact them, or where the borrower failed to perform on a repayment plan or loan modification that was already in place"