But they do have some distinct advantages, especially if you have a business that is national in scope.

Either way, they package the technique into a course and sell it as TNBT (the next big thing).After having created that specific technique, they package it with pretty video's, tons of written documents, nice web sites, fancy squeeze pages and other materials and call it "The New Secret Sauce" for Real Estate Investing and they market it nationwide.There is a distinct difference between a Real Estate Investor and a Real Estate Entreprneur.Examples:The Realtor in South Carolina who prior to the bubble bursting sold 15 properties in 15 minutes to a list of buyers he had been building for years.

Without that you start competing with the luxury complexes catering to students sprouting up along the bus routes.The good news is that if you choose to sell you have three distinct target markets: rich parents buying for their kids, college rental investors, and regular homeowners including the college faculty/staff.

That's an important distinction to understand when checking out educators.

Hi John,unfortunately, a LLC doesn't save you from paperwork - quite the contrary.You still need all your receipts to substantiate your expenses to the IRS (if it comes to defending an audit).You definitely want to have separate accounts to show that the LLC is indeed a distinct entity and you definitely do not want to mix your and the LLC moneys.Mixing personal and business funds more or less automatically kills the point and benefit of the LLC since it needs to documented as a separate, business entity.There's a ton of LLC related discussions on BP, plus I found the NOLO books on dealing with Tax for Landlords to be outstanding.You have plenty of time to ramp up on this aspect.Get a bunch more rentals under your belt to build up your net worth.

These are very important distinctions and you need to be clear on them.

(I don't know the Houston Area, but here in the Detroit Area, that is definitely an important distinction.)

I should clarify, it's not that I don't necessarily think it's worth it - but once any product (software or otherwise) gets into the $1000 + initial cost, I get the distinct impression that they are actually taking advantage of users instead of trying to sell a product they will find useful.

I have also had the distinct honor of meeting Josh and his family here in Denver.

I was fortunate to have found a person who is an active investor (Buy and Hold) with years of experience who was willing to take me under his wing.I would not compare the two like someone else mentioned, they are two distinctly different types of investment vehicles.