Apartment and Rental Properties - new to real estate investing

I had sent this to a few people in form of a private messege...realized i should just put it out there....hoping anyone could help. Came into some $ recently, and wanted to purchase homes to rent, preferrable multi-family. ( im in Long Island NY ). question is, are there any good free resources to locate homes, outside of Realtor.com or a MLS website...or for that matter , a pay site thats worth the $$. seems to be a lot of foreclosure sites, are they all the same??? Also, any advise you could give to someone getting into this venture would be appreciated. thanks in advance
Jim

Another way, if you plan to stay and buy in your immediate area, is simply to put the word out... I actually left my business card with a note written on the back in mailboxes of properties I thought I'd like to own or, by using the PVA records (via phone), wrote to the owners letting them know I'd be interested if they ever sold. The duplex I ended up buying was obtaining in this manner. The upside is that you get first crack at it before it goes on the general market or into the hands of a realtor; the downside is that they know you're "very interested" and may inflate the price; also, be mindful that most LLs sell when big maintenance issues are looming, so be sure to get a good home inspection. Luck.

PVA = Property Value Assessments; part of your city's government. Just call with the street address, and you get not only the name of the owner, but the amount paid.

thx for your help

Before you jump into RE investing spend a LOT OF TIME INVESTIGATING. I've been a RE investor for almost 30 years and it's NOT an easy job, not as "hands off" as most "seminar sellers" would have you believe. I don't know of any RE market in the US where you can buy a SFH or up to a 4 plex at MARKET PRICE and make a profit on it.

The "average" landlord in the US is a "default" landlord! That is he couldn't sell his house when a job transfer came up, or just thought having a rental sounded like a good idea. That "average" landlord is LOSING HIS *** on his RE "investment".

There are lots of RE investing sites out there, hang out on a few for awhile and read what REAL INVESTORS, not "seminar hucksters" have to say.

frank

I second that, Frank... It's a much bigger stressor and aggravation than I ever dreamed it would be... I was like, uh, what's to worry about? You just sit at home and let the checks roll in??? Uh, yeah, except that your tenants are calling every five minutes, complaining, ordering repairs, not paying the rent, leaving the place a mess, etc., etc. When something ISN'T going wrong, you're worried something WILL go wrong!!! If I knew then what I knew now (including how little profit I'd make after maintenance, turnover costs, insurance, and taxes), I would've found a safer, better, and more PASSIVE investment for my money. Talk to a few landlords before jumping in. I believe the tenant pool now -- in the wake of EZ mortgages which enabled all the halfway decent renters to buy homes -- is worse than it's ever been.

I'll also agree with what Frank and otter2 said. I have 2 buildings (duplexes) and I am really tired of being a landlord. I'll be retiring in 3 or 4 years and I will be very happy to sell the duplexes.

Right now I am in the process of evicting a tenant; I am considering myself very lucky because it looks like he is moving out on his own and I don't have to go through the formal Unlawful Detainer process. If I can rent it right away and he doesn't destroy anything, I may only lose a thousand dollars or so, assuming I never see the rent he owes.

thx for the Advise... definately not something i plan on jumping into.....RE prices in the area are off the charts, but i think patience/homework in this mkt will provide some opportunity somewhere down the road. Am currently a stock/derivatives trader, have a good feel for all the credit/macro issues we're now starting to see ( at the begining of the cycle IMHO ). Have a friend that is a RE broker looking out for me... do you guys look at REO's or foreclosure mkts at all ? also, what other forums would you recommend? thanks again