I just signed up for the site after listening to a dozen of the podcasts.  I live in the western suburbs of Chicago and am here, first and foremost, to see how much I can learn so that I can figure out what my real goals are.  I am very good with finance and numbers, but under-educated in real estate investing and the various opportunities available. 

My current real estate experience:  First, with my primary residences and the number of refinancings I have done, I have comfort in the process.  Second -  I have lent my credit worthiness to a relative via a land contract - which I love becuase I make a few bucks, help out a relative and have almost no unexpected costs since its quite a bit like a triple-net-lease in a residential form.  Thirdly, I have invested in a rehab/flip fund in the Chicago market that has an intended fund life of 18-24 months to buy, fix and flip roughly 25 high-end houses. 

Why I'm here: I have been a solid saver for 20 years, giving me access to liquidity and credit.  I have invested almost exclusively in stocks for all that time but am looking to learn more about ways in which I can branch out, hopefully with an eye toward income.  I would rather spend my liquidity than my time, therefore, I find buy/hold as most interersting, particularly with property management in place or in partnership with people interested in doing more of thehands on work than I would do.  Before coming to this site, I woudln't have given much though to being a lender, but that idea is also intriguing to me.  Given the potential for hands-off investing, I also think commercial real estate could be interesting.  Basically, I'm a blank canvas.  If I could do 50 more deals like the land contract transaction I'm in, I'd do that in a heartbeat.  Tenant gets to "own" a home while I get protection via the contract, and I make a predictable return.  Its been a nice deal so far and returns have been attractive, given the predictability of cash flows. 

Looking forward to a lot of lurking and a lot of learning.