The Appraisal saved me $6,900 on this house.

Focus on the cash flow and monthly expense savings amounts / percentages in order to vet the deal.

We have saved up enough that together we can make a 20% down payment.

I am handy so I plan on doing those projects myself to save some cost.Now that we have house number one under our belts, we are excited to work on our second property! 

If outlines how to get your finances under control and save to invest. 

Is all about strategies, also, in the meantime, I will keep working and saving money in Australia, same way I have been doing for the last year or so.Thank you very much in advance for any help or advise I could get

Over the next six months as I save my money for a down payment, I hope to learn as much as I can and make contacts to learn from and grow with.

@Lauren KeenTax Strategies for the Savvy Real Estate Investor is good book and does make the investor think about deductions he/she is entitled to.You are entitled to a home office deduction if you had an area in your home that you used for your business(file cabinet to save tenant files, office desk to take and place calls) that was regularly and exclusively used for your business.There is one caveat with the home office deduction. 

I have a few questions about getting started in mutual partnerships, particularly 2 of my close friends.Basically my short term goal is to save enough funds to put 3.5% down plus have 6 months expenses saved towards a 100k-120k FHA loan on a duplex, triplex, or quadplex & househack for the first 1-3 years.

Save yourself the hassle and try to form a partnership (the terms and conditions can be anything you decide).