There are many professionals in your situation.Wanting to invest in real estate but do not know how to get started.A competent real estate broker can help you determine investment goals and direction.Gurus will suck you dry in fees,boot camps,manuals,etc. and most of it is regurgitated junk.I am not a fan of the multiple house scenario.Unless grouped closely together you run into economies of scale issues.I much prefer apartment buildings or commercial triple net leases or retail strip centers for income.You can also invest with a hard money lender and just get your returns that way.There is risk in anything you do.The goal is to minimize it as much as possible.Do you just want to own property as a tax shelter to lower your income tax bracket??

Now, I know there is no deal until the ink on the HUD is dry, but I was assured by the listing agent again, last week, the seller was motivated and needed to sell.

(it's amazing that the more experienced i became, the more i put into a house to fix it up, but that's another topic).anyway, the current market for the same type houses are 80k and above. the filters that i have for the MLS alerts have dried up and they were set for 3 bedroom homes under 90k.

I was finding stuff early in 2014 and picked up two places I was happy with, but they have near zero inventory in my market these days.Homesearch and auction.com seems to actually have more inventory vs. the beginning of this year, but the reserve prices area creeping up towards 100% of retail....the only opportunities I am finding is when everyone thinks a problem that doesn't exist.In one case everyone thought the wells on a property were dry, but we got a well inspection done right after getting the confirmed bid and found there was still water.  

In closing, I think the Fed is behind the curve some and they know they have to raise a few more times because they need to have dry powder for the next downturn.  

The problem is that sometimes sellers like to fudge the numbers on their Financial Statements leading to you being high and dry.

As a water damage restoration company in Vancouver WA, we extract, and dry out flooding basements, consistently between October, until about May.  

First floor walls that had visible mold have been torn out to dry and dehumidifiers are running.  

With rates this low you have a large potential pool of buyers that will dry up once the rates do increase.

Make sure to put in any and all things you don't want, loud noises, smoking, dishes, and when and how to wash and dry clothes.