Finally, at the end of the day, you really can't rely on the seller's financials for anything meaningful.  

Asking if it's a "good" or "bad" time to buy is like JFK asking if this is a good day for a drive. 

Heck, I don’t even enjoy driving, would much rather have a chauffeur 🤩 But if he does and can make a fortune doing it, then cheers to him and that business.  

If you can find local deals (within 2 hours of where you live) that make sense, they can be gold mines. 2 hours seems to be the max that most people would drive if you HAD to do your own showings or move-in prep and local management proves unreliable.

What it will do is drive a lot of part-time agents out of business who slipped into a buyer agent role by simply being there at a showing.

I have had several friends suggest that it would be wiser to start off with rentals within driving distance of where I live. 

Hello am new here am nate and purest of rookie.. got nothing in my back got some dedt that can't seem to pay off car is falling apart.. and still live with parents.. still have this drive to buy a house and just rent it out or do the FHA loan.

I'd also recommend these two books by Avery CarlSmarter Short-Term RentalsShort-Term Rentals, Long-Term WealthI've been doing a lot of the BiggerPockets books as audio books while I drive instead of just my usual podcasts when I really want to drill down and learn a specific topic and I'm loving it so far.

Finally, our W2 jobs pay well and don't leave time to focus on making the rentals into a business and with having lost the drive to do it I'm just feeling a bit lost since these houses were a big part of my retirement plan-- and now I resent them. 

Do you think waiting 7 years to see income is a good idea can never spend it so keep driving your yugo?