You might as well play the stock market, at least you won't have any tenant headaches.What I'm trying to say, as well as Mike, is that investing in properties that cash flow well, bought well below market value, is a proven method of generating wealth in ten years or less.

That being said, what are the advantages/dis of renting or buying- say a foreclousre we have been looking into?

@Michael Chase Listen to what @Dev Horn has to say as he really knows what he is talking about.

Didn't say a word about the wife needing to sign this deed paper for 30 plus days of having the house under contract and negotiating repairs.

Now these are just averages but if you went into real estate say as a former congressman or something similar where you have a large sphere base already then you can grow existing business faster than this.

Also, can you tell me if I were to calculate rehab costs at say $28.00 per sq ft on say a 1200 sq ft home, does that include labor?

I'd say a deal like this should have 10% of the sale price as the down payment and the front-end loaded note can be made so that is attained and then fall into the remaining amortized period.Sell the property for what it's worth, 8% is sufficient consideration, use the amortized period to provide you wanted monthly income, you could require a higher payment to principal to increase the down payment over time as long as they can really afford it, and affording should be determined by debt-income ratios not by an opinion, especially with any inclination of getting in their pocket from any personal issue.Good luck on your getting your RE license, as you go through that process you'll see the ethical aspects of dealing in RE and what I've said here will become clearer. :)

If you offer cash for keys and it's say a small amount of 500 but they know the 1,400 in rent they are not paying it will take 3 months to get them out in a pro-tenant state and they can milk free rent and leave all the trash it's enticing to stay.

Given our market, I think buying, say, a 2 or 3 bedroom, living in one bedroom and renting out the rest makes a lot more sense.

I'm a believer in a diversified investment strategy and real estate is a part of that diversification.But when you say "a $7,000 profits check" you make me wonder if you mean a real estate job, such as wholesaling.