Unfortunately, there are also a few people who have popped up on BP trying to sell a crappy real estate-related program but fortunately the majority of the experienced investors on here don't fall under this category (plus the program spammers tend to get banned sooner or later).  

But if you buy four $200K houses then it's apples to apples and you're not going to fall behind.For what it's worth, I'd be concerned that if you over extend yourself buying a primary home you'll create a larger scale issue than just being house poor.

pid=2107Houston Real Estate Highlights in July, 2024:-Single-family home sales rose 1.8 percent year-over-year;-Days on Market (DOM) for single-family homes went from 42 to 44 days;-Total property sales were down 2.1 percent with 8,969 units sold;-Total dollar volume increased 4.4 percent to $3.8 billion;-The single-family median price increased 2.9 percent to $350,000;-The single-family average price rose 4.7 percent to a record high of $445,440; -Single-family home months of inventory registered a 4.3-months supply, up from 3.1 months last July;-Townhome/condominium sales continued to decline, falling 19.5 percent, with the median price up 0.7 percent to $221,500 and the average price declined 0.8 percent to $261,123.

We used to have in-house inspectors but it was hard to scale and with our heavies season being that of summer months, at 1000+ units we weren't able to hire enough inspectors for the last day of month move outs and first day of month move ins and then still keep them fully-employed in our slower season in fall/winter.

Its great reading if you are having trouble falling asleep! 

I asked my attorney that, he asked, well how many properties  can you afford to lose when a tree falls on little Johnny and I prove you knew the tree was going to fall?? 

After researching further and talking to tons more people over the last few weeks, I am SO thankful I did not fall into this trap...

Summer / Fall / Holidays are more of the peak time to visit the area. 

1 - yes2 - I don't think that the drain from your house to the main sewer falls under the "Municipal Sewer" category that @Joshua Thompson mentioned, but I would have to check before giving a verdict.

Besides the long investment cycle, you have to know a lot about zoning, development, local politics, irrigation, farming, subsoil conditions, easements, utilities, development costs etc  Don't fall for the idea that just because you bought it at an auction means you've got a deal.The "easiest" land game to get into is to buy buildable infill lots