What type of risk are you willing to endure? 

Also, I'm not sure whether I have the endurance for a short sale, but the potential property is a seeming good deal for a buy and hold scenario.

Make your time be a legacy; as Napoleon Hill said: For as long as time endures.

Most pro's get set up with Lexis Nexis and TLO, both requiring an office inspection and minimum monthly fees.Alternatively, you can get a subscription to PI magazine and find amateur sleuths to skip trace your target on a per assignment basis with commitment. 

I would have done this as many times as I could...but then I got married and my wife didn't want to live through another renovation (she visited me at that house and was often put to work or had to endure trips to Lowes).So being young and in an area with lots of other young professionals like RTP you have a lot of options you could leverage...it's just a matter of what you're willing and able to do. 

This takes some extra effort and sleuthing & doesn't always get results, but if I can clear an eviction from the record before another application is approved, I do.

I am wondering especially how wholesalers and flippers will make money as prices are constantly dropping since buy and hold investors will mostly stop buying until they are confident the market has gotten close to the bottom.Looking forward to hear your thoughts, opinions, and wisdom especially from those who have endured complete market cycles.Thank you,Billy Bell

However, I've learned that you should consider what your exit strategies before you purchase an investment, understand your equity spread, and be comfortable with potentially having to weather the storm (hold for 3+ years, endure multiple evictions, years with negative cashflow), Thanks,Dean

Do the minimum renovation to start and get it rented and then wait to dress it up some more when ready to sell, but that needs to be a quick turn around so you don't wait too long to capture that equity and extend your risk of enduring a market correction any longer than you have to.  

@Lane Mccracklin I plan to wholesale until I have enough capital to endure a flip in case there are unexpected cost, which from what I hear there usually are.