Ping me if you want that info.

There's a ton of great info here on the site for you to learn from, and lots of great members willing to give of themselves to help you and others.

A closer look allows you:1) To confirm if the house is vacant2) You will start to see some houses with REO letters (bank owned), I avoid, lock boxes (means someone has an interest in the property already) avoid, Tenant eviction notice (has landlords contact info and they will be motivated), foreclosure notices etc.3) You will get a chance to network since you are out of the car- you will meet neighbors, where you can get the story on the house, contractors (mowers, handymen etc. which can give you info on the house as well as several others)4) You get to understand the condition of the property by seeing it up close.Driving your farm are in my opinion is highly recommended at least once a month (a lot happens in a neighborhood in a month), but is still one out of the 10 or more you should regularly doing to find these properties.Personally I feel there is a moral obligation if I am going to put a property under contract that I have the intention of closing it myself if I can not find a buyer.

See the Lease Option Page on my RE blog for more info.

But more than that, we have a great community here on bigger pockets with skilled members who graciously share their info.

On a seperate worksheet, it populates this info to a "bid sheet" with a entry for labor, another worksheet populates sku numbers for the itmes we use, ceiling fans, stoves, etc for us to pick up at Home Depot.

Indecent 1: They held funds for several days then reached out and ask me to verify my company's info by sending in a business license, state filings and a list of other documents.Indecent 2: They held funds and asked me to verify that my customer was a real person, customer had to provide personal information and confirm that they knew me.Indecent 3: On another transaction they held funds stating that they thought I would make only $10k or less in revenues which is insane.

Here is a link for those who want add'l info. http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/res/respamor.cfm

I've heard that sitting in on city planning meetings (or just keeping up with the info provided from them) is a good way to get a jump on emerging local markets.

I found out some more detailed info about the expenses and then did as you suggested; i backed into an offer price with an 8% cap rate.