I’m not saying just jump into any old deal with knowledge ...but I will say it’s very easy to get scared and allow fear to paralyze you because of the unknown .

We fear we will become homeless. 

I guess I'll have to quietly stalk my prey.

Is this a valid fear or is that an old wise tale about being able to claim land just because you did stuff to it? 

Worth or Denton but have been considering starting the hunt - only fear is I am just not as familiar with the areas as I am in Dallas now.Really looking for simple, conservative investments that could be bought and held (1% 'rule') in places where I'd have my family live. 

I understand that RE is local but this could also be the beginning of fear spreading throughout the country.Couple things I found interesting:1.I did a search for housing market (Neutral search) and all posts on the 1st page were negative about the housing market with all of them recent articles.

It is the biggest fear that I have, but not one to lose sleep over.

Lastly, what do you fear more? 

I tell myself that just getting to this point and buying my first property is a win itself by overcoming the fear that most have which prevents them from ever taking the plunge into REI.   

There is a little fear on my end in giving up control on those areas ;)