EXACTLY what matters when you’re evaluating a rental property investment?  It’s a short list, but every single thing matters.  I’m Bryan Ellis.  I’ll tell you the CRITICAL FACTORS for evaluating rental property investments RIGHT NOW in Episode #118------It’s a wonderful day to be alive, isn’t it my friends!  It is SO AMAZING to get another great day on God’s green earth!Welcome to another exciting edition of the podcast of record for savvy, self-directed investors like you!Today, we’re talking rental property.  It’s an important topic because the change in consumer mentality towards living arrangements has shifted DRAMATICALLY towards rentals and away from ownership, presenting a great opportunity for you and me.But, my friends, please listen very carefully to this:  Rental properties are not inherently a great investment.  Sorry, no, it’s just not true.  They are not all the same.  Not all properties are the same.  Not all markets are the same.  Not all tenants are the same, not all property managers are the same.  These are not commodity products.Repeat after me:  Some rental deals are better than others.  Some are far worse.  Do only the best ones!But which are the best ones?  This episode was inspired by a great conversation I had with a new client just yesterday, who bought a rental property from us for a very deeply-below-retail-value price on Monday.  He since received a solicitation from a turnkey rental company for some other investment properties, and he asked for my help in figuring out whether the properties they offered him made sense.  Jack… it was a pleasure to speak with you!  I hope our conversation was helpful!So let’s you and I talk about what makes for a good rental property investment, shall we?Folks, think like a business person.  If you own rental property, then your product is housing.  The fundamental question is:  How desirable is your product?  Doesn’t really matter which property you consider… there’s an occupant for it on some level of the scale.  On the one end of the scale is the property that has all of the bells and whistles, in the nicest part of town, that commands the highest premiums in rent.  And on the other end of the scale is the property that’s occupied by vagrants and is an eyesore and a physical danger.Where does your property fall on that scale?Being on either end of that spectrum is the wrong place for most investors.  You’re generally looking for salt-of-the-earth type properties that are, in most markets, in the $50,000 to $150,000 range.So aside from price range, what are some of the factors to consider?As always, the criteria to use at the start is the S3 Investing Criteria of SIMPLE, SAFE and STRONG.Let’s look at SIMPLICITY.  Obviously, the rental property is a conceptually simple business.  So we’re good there.  But looking deeper… is the specific PROPERTY simple to deal with?  Is the MARKET where it’s located strategically wise such that you can make a SIMPLE case for why you should invest there?For example:  There’s a geographic part of the country that we at Self Directed Investor Network are VERY excited about.  We’ve done our homework, and this part of the country is absolutely in the path of progress and has, in my humble – but astoundingly accurate – opinion, a GREAT chance at substantial appreciation in the coming decade.  The reasons are simple – it’s between two major cities connected by a major highway, and there’s an overwhelming amount of evidence that infrastructure is rapidly growing between those two cities, raising demand for property and associated pricing.  It’s a slam dunk.  But the BEST thing about it is that with a bit of market expertise, one can still buy properties there VERY inexpensively, below appraised value… and these properties are PERFECT as rentals!  So it’s a beautiful, beautiful opportunity.  Simple to understand, simple to explain.  Just simple.  By the way – if you’d like more information about this market, hang on a minute and I’ll give y