My ask is -should I continue to rent and buy rentals in a different area or should I get my own house in order (pun intended) then branch out into investment.

Heck we even have a local branch manager that has helped us with escrow issues.Brian I am not wanting an argument on sub to (we are way past that), I would like someone who might understand the backside of lending(no pun intended) and could explain the benifit of ever calling a loan.

@Jay Hinrichs yeah I forgot to write pun intended ;)@Edward Liu I think your friend’s great deal in Palo Alto during the last recession was more of a one off then the norm.

Since the OP wanted to be on title so he could refinance and get his DP back, I assumed, no pun intended, that he might consider approaching the seller to see if there is indeed a assumable or transfer option.

(pun intended) The only people I know who do smoke inside tend to be either shut-ins or (how do I say this without being rude?)

I’m on a similar path I just fell in love with real estate over the last couple of months after falling OUT of love with my religion and in my quest to re discover myself ended up reading Rich Dad .....thinking it would be about budgeting. i’m currently an electrician (no pun intended) but just got my real estate license in WI because along with my spiritual RE discovery came the revelation that i ALSO hate my job.

The issue is that it's an auction and you'll be bidding against other investors who have bigger pockets than you (pun intended!).

@Wilson Pun Most tenants that are 2 months behind won’t catch up.

(pun intended)...

@Jim K. awesomely great pun!