Working with town officials...especially when they find out after the fact...can be very difficult and doesnt help build long term relationships with people that could make your life hell.More importantly, I'd be worried about the personal and legal ramifications of...say a fire breaks out in a non-approved unit.

Last year was the best and worst year of my life.

I call it fear.Now that I'm a little bit older, with a little more life experience, I see things far differently.

I'd love to hear any of your own real life examples of what you've done in similar situations.And yes, I'm asking this because I have a friend that actually has $50k and wants to eventually get into rentals but is scared to take the first step and very unsure of how to go about it. 

There aren't many areas of Tacoma that aren't a 10 minute drive from Hilltop.But, from a longer term REI standpoint, it doesn't seem to me that Tacoma is poised to explode - it's an older city and was built out to within an inch of its life long ago.

I would also like to hear stories from anyone who wants to share about how they got started, or any kind of advice anyone can offer.As for me I graduated with a BA in Theater and after graduating I realized it was not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

Here's a link where @Chris Martinposted about reserves as the lenders want to see them funded, and where I gave some links to projecting useful life of various systems to facilitate establishing reserves:http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/432/topics/867...

I've lived in CA all my life and  prices have been in a perpetual out of control state with a few exceptions over the years.

I like the fact that I always have an income and health insurance for me and my family no matter what happens in my real estate life.

I called a few numbers until I was able to talk to a human being, who then took my name and number and told be the office that handles this sort of business will contact me in 24-48 hours.