Indeed the constant problems with bad tenants and shonky contractors is enough to give anyone high blood pressure.Personally I started buying real estate like I was playing a game of monopoly.

I was just window shopping until it was in my blood. 

You can quit and go back to your safe job, or you can pick yourself up, wipe off the blood and continue forward.

You will be in awe of what took blood, sweat, tears, years and dollars to produce.  

If you find a good deal, then like sharks smelling blood in the water, there are many many cash buying investors in the 5 boroughs.

Make sure you have a 3.5% down payment ready (this can even come from a gift from a person related by blood or marriage), decent credit (no tax unpaid tax liens, judgments, etc.), and three accounts with a 12 month history.

hi @David Daniels  and welcome.nice to see (once) local blood on here.Yourself, @Ross McKenzie  and I should stay in contact as we plan on investing in Texas and eyes and knowledge on the ground would be great and I know a lot about the Vancouver market as we flip houses with investors here, so could help you in your search later with market Info or whatever.

I may even have to get his opinion on if I should file debt action against my previous tenant, even though I believe that may be like getting blood from a stone.

Blood and sweat, but u appreciate the hard work later!  

I wanted to hit my head against something just to get the blood flowing.