I am in with Wells Fargo, Countrywide, Wachovia and Ocwen and give people hints on getting in with these banks if they will reciprocate the favor.Sheri in the Inland Empire, CAlifornia

I wasn't in ATL during the peak, so I don't have a ton of empirical data, but I agree that the parts of ATL that I've been investing in (west surburbs) are down WAY more than 15%.I'm picking up REOs left and right at 20-30% of peak market prices, and even properties in very good condition appear to be down 30-40% the past year or two.

I just don't believe that N4/L1s are hopeless and that is because I base things on the empirics: that route is how corporate landlords get rid of nonpaying tenants.

After you build your real estate empire...pick the hobby back up.I would encourage you to explore all of your options before making a decision.  

I got hooked on the concept and hope to grow my real estate "empire" to be a substantial source of income eventually (although my wife says I can't call it an empire with just two houses.) 

My vision is to create a highly successful real estate empire - comprised of both flipping and vacation rentals.

It also has many who fought hard, came here with little and begun an empire.

After my recent deployment I had plenty of time to think about where I want to be in the next ten years and owning multiple properties is where I want to be.I figure with a truck payment of $590 a month, that money could be used towards building my rental empire not to mention all the gas a Hemi sucks up…There will be plenty of days ahead where I can buy nice cars, I have to get the passive income created first.

In our experience the exception to this is many old - Second Empire, Victorian, Edwardian, ballon-framed houses had horizontal cross-members in the wall cavity spaces (aside from the plate at the ceiling or floor).

I'm looking at out of state options and I'm also looking in the inland empire area.