I picked up about 20 units the other winter back, and burned through $200,000 in repairs quicker than you could write a check, and I have my own rehab crews that work full-time at this game.

If you went the VA loan route and it's in a good location with strong rental characteristics, you may decide that you're willing to cover a couple hundred bucks out of pocket each month because you didn't have to put 20% down.If it's burning through a lot of cash each month that you can't cover out of your budget or other rentals, you'll have to look at how much equity you have, what you could sell the property for, and what you'd clear after expenses and fees. 

1) I want to learn all I can about REI because I want to make a career out of it without losing my shirt.2) I won't have much cash to actually invest until I have sold my property in CA and I need to finish the reno before I can list it.3) I used to be an attorney and I saw plenty of clients get burned for trusting the wrong person/people.

@Grant RothenburgerBoth are W2 jobs surprisingly.My concern is the $ for a downpayment for sure, I'll burn the bridge of obtaining a mortgage once I get there.I realize taking 2 weeks off every 5 months severely hinders my growth within a company but at this point in my life I don't want to let go of the relationship (Ask me again in a few years :p).

JD Martin you are right, my guess is they are only out a couple of thousand dollars between EMD and other fees, but for newbies who are just dipping in, the loss is a burn.

or maybe even getting an unwanted mobile home from a park ?

If you had $2 million burning a hole in your pocket, a good deal would look a lot differently, right?

No one taught me but i have been burned and bruised enough that i am better investor atleast thats what i hope.

She suddenly remembered wires that she had forgotten for her TV (she had 2x 5" holes cut out of the feature wall to hide her cables, without asking) so it was easier to have her reputable painter guy pop in and cover up the holes and remove her last items without me having to see her again.My fault for not just getting it done myself I suppose but she is the sort of tenant that uses Court Action in seemingly every sentence and was seen taking pictures of everything when she left and even took a picture of her notice taped to my front door so I was trying to minimize any court action by at least keeping her in the loop of all the damage so I could get her replies by text to use if she decided to challenge my return deposit amount.She did admit to the burns in the carpet (stupidly putting hot coals from the fire in a plastic home depot bucket) and argued that it wasn't cat urine but vomit as her cat had cancer (but obviously didn't think to clean them or have them professionally cleaned).  

Top sales agents change all the time because they have to work hard to be at the top and it burns them out.