If you are ever looking for a good contractor he is someone who I obviously trust. 

If I used cash it would have been $8,500 and if I used Amex travel portal or United portal it would have been hundreds of thousands of those hard earned points :)Not a total expert but happy to give tips :)

Obviously, the rules will differ from state to state.The most successful buyers have trusted bidders with cashier’s checks in multiple denominations (for cash sales) and the actual buyers have field runners and people to monitor multiple prospective properties at a given time and check sales status for postponements due to BK, etc.This is the case in larger metro markets where many properties could go to sale but few do so.There are often better ways to acquire properties then auctions.

As a self operator the total investment into this project was $420k.

Obviously they are running against the zoning policies, always feel like doing something in the gray.

You're better off reading the BiggerPockets forms getting a couple of books worth 100 bucks total and going from there.

I want either full control - an individual property - or total liquidity - a REIT or index fund. 

Listed at $209,000 was able to negotiate down to $176,000.Plan to total gut and give this old beauty a 2025 face lift!!

I would do this every 12-15 months if my spouse wasn’t totally opposed to moving frequently.

I find it more helpful to track on my total cash into the deal (inclusive of furniture, amenities, etc), so cash on cash and monthly net cash flow are the two metrics I find are most informative when I'm looking at a purchase.