Be sure you can cash flow to survive any upcoming market down cycles.

Allaenna we are lifelong Louisiana residents so we've watched the NO market survive for years, it's very attractive.Chris, I have family in Houma, a great area.

I can assure you that there's nothing in real estate that you're going to do that's truly new.You are really discussing two, very different strategies.Marketing to surviving family members of deceased persons requires identifying the opportunity by a published obit, matching the data with record owners and contacting the heirs and beneficiaries. 

Just like the banks were stress tested by the Fed to determine if they could solely survive another financial crisis, I believe we all should stress test our own leverage ( if we are leveraged).I personally have all fixed rate mortgages on my four residential properties so I can eliminate a variable ( interest rate change) when I stress test ( I know what it will be). 

The interest rate on my first mortgage was in the high teens, we survived and the property today is long paid off and worth more than double its original purchase price.The U.S.A. and Canada have experience cheap money over the past decade which has contributed to an increase in real estate prices:  So what if you pay an extra 40K to get that duplex, the interest rate is only 2.5% (up here anyway) ... it's only another $180/month.There are a lot of folks who have been buying property with the implied premise that the Prime rate would remain below 4% when the historical norm has been somewhat higher.  

Hi Everyone,I am new to investing. I've been doing this for a year now. So far I've been buying distressed properties with equity, fixing them and flipping them. So far so good, but I've only bought cash only properti...

@Alan WolkovIf you purchase a property at a foreclosure auction and later find that there is a government lien or lien that survives the foreclosure auction, you will be responsible and indebted.

Make sure although they are close friends, that you trust them with your financial life as this is a business and will need to make money to survive.

Relationships thrive and survive on mutual trust and respect.  

Here's How To Survive With Attorney Scott Smithhttps://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2015/02/12/bp-podcast-109/ Forming an LLC right off the batThe ins and outs of Insurance vs.