I have some money in my savings account but not a lot.

You don't need to save up $100K or quit your job today in order to become a successful investor. 

I rented it out to save the house when I move out and I'm out of pocket $1,300 every month towards the mortgage.

And you're right about avoiding weekly travel—sound systems can save you time and stress!

We love North Carolina but we're 20 years from the retirement dream. 

Starting out, I would try to take equity from your primary/another property using a HELOC, borrower against a 401k/retirement account, or partner with someone that has cash. 

Financial Highlights•Acquisition Price: $72,000•Renovation Costs: $35,600•Total Investment: $107,600•Funds: raised from personal savings and private lender How did you add value to the deal?

Implementing water-saving initiatives is a smart way to reduce utility costs.

Of course, the story isn’t done being written and it’s always possible the value could go back up.It was also less expensive to buy and sell our laundromat, particularly because we brokered the sale ourselves, saving us 10% of the sale price.

And YES, carriers will 100% do that because it will save them a TON of $.