We worked our W-2 and did real estate for 10 years.

DTI < 33%I've been constantly getting advised by my real estate agent (& i've discussed this with multiple agents) that if I add any contingencies to the offer, it won't stand a chance in the bay area market.If that is the case, how do I protect myself from challenges which could be found during home inspection / pest inspection related contingencies?

Besides reading and listening to podcasts, my wife and I attend a local real estate investor meetup that has been extremely beneficial. 

Two of those are Real estate Investing, and working in the Residential Construction Industry.

Quote from @Timothy Villa: Hey Everyone, I am very to to real estate investing and trying to learn about many of the different strategies.

Warning:If you depreciate a property down near zero and then have to sell your property at a loss during a situation of distress...You could end up giving all the proceeds to the bank AND owe the IRS a big chunk of money for recapture.Long-term tax planning with real estate needs to be coupled with risk management and making sure you don't lose any properties.

Quote from @TJ Dittmar: Finally taking the steps to get started real estate investing.

My interest rate and purchase price wouldn’t allow for positive cash flow unless I charged an unreasonable rent—or put about $500K toward the principal, which isn't ideal.I’m a high earner, so I’m weighing my options:Take the loss ($60K-$100K), buy another house, and chalk this up to a hard lesson learned.Refinance, put more money into it, and rent it out long-term—even if it’s not immediately profitable.Invest my money elsewhere and try to make peace with staying here for several years or just move.Would love to hear thoughts from anyone with experience in real estate, financial strategy, or noise mitigation.

As a professional property manager for going on 20 years and a real estate investor, I still encourage people to manage for themselves. 

Hello all, Has anyone either used or heard about a company called HouseCashin or Real Estate Bees?