I feel fortunate to get all these intelligent professional replies.

I am young, intelligent, and a hard working individual who has finally found something I am more than passionate about.

Michael Blank seems like an intelligent guy.

And just a word on long term pursuit-of-knowledge best practices...Never surround yourself so deeply in one area of inquiry, There are plenty of really intelligent people here, theres no doubt about that - but don't forget that you have to expose yourself to an array of areas.

Brian,I'm definitely going to consult an attorney but  going in with intelligent questions always helps.One scenario was to purchase a property with 80% of the IRA funds and leaving a cushion for taxes and incidentals and  tapping into cash and credit to fund the repairs.

If anyone can please offer me any further intelligent advice or guidance, I would be grateful. 

Here is a tip that will work for you ------- THE Charles Parrish's 50 HOUSE RULE: Make it a project to look 50 houses, with a self pledge NOT TO buy or make an offer on any of them - your objective is to study the market, keep a journal - in it list every property you look at, the square footage, the price per SF, the agents' listing, any comments the agent or the seller makes, keep good notes - After awhile you will discover some very interesting things about this project, 1. you will become aware of values, 2. you will learn how to detect motivation of sellers and agents and 3. this journal will be a valuable asset when you are more aware of the market and you will be able, after you are a little more educated, be able to make intelligent offers that will pay off in equity or cash profits.Remember DO NOT MAKE OFFERS - you are in the research mode - also when you are asking questions you are in control - when the seller or agents are asking questions they are in control and want to qualify you - just say you are looking for properties for your family trust and that you are a CASH BUYER - that should stop them from interrogating you.Hopefully this will help you to Break Out of Analysis of Paralysis ---- Good luck - let's us know how the THE Charles Parrish's 50 HOUSE RULE works for you.

TV commercials and shows are constantly portraying women as being intelligent and efficient while men are shown as lazy, clueless buffoons.

You WILL make mistakes, but in my opinion if you are buying an appreciating asset and adding value, you're more than likely going to come out ahead in the long run if you make a good effort to do it intelligently.

Once and Eagle by Anton MeyerThe Intelligent Investor by Ben Graham With the Old Breed by E.B.