I used to work in the space program before going into oil and gas.

REAL ESTATE is an investment, just like precious metals, stocks, royalties, equipment, oil, gas, etc I assume you work for a company that only sells stocks and bonds thus the tunnel vision-not your fault.

Moving to the New Orleans area and changing careers to the oil industry has put me in a good market with solid income to more readily achieve my ambitions of supplementing my income and eventually replacing it through cash flowing rentals and flips.  

I would prefer that the driveway and garage is free of oil stains. 

We got together when I was 18 and she was 19 and spent our money freely and never budgeted for several years until we decided we wanted to settle down, start a family and start planning for our future.I was able through persistence and luck to secure a lucrative job in the oil field around the time our first child was born.

Finding properties, research and development, talking to our realtor, family time, date night, doctor appointments, work shifts, oil changes,  EVERYTHING. 

Id also equip the tenant with strainers and inform them not to put oil down the drain.

It's ok to pay a reasonable amount of money (not $50,000 or $100,000) for education to help flatten the learning curve but be careful, there are snake oil salesmen roaming these halls. 

You could make an offer with a due diligence period to give you a chance to get inspections, and check for any environmental issues (cars leaking fuel, oil, etc... could be an issue). 

There is a soy bean oil product that can be sprayed on composition shingles and it makes them plyable again.