Pursuing one's PhD is an eight-year tour of college campuses, most usually followed by a career teaching within those soft confines.Get these academics out for a couple years in the real, non-theoretical world working as roofers or plumbers or waitresses and they will quickly grasp the true value of actually 'earning' a livelihood.

Please forgive me for interpreting things incorrectly given our previous correspondence Bill.I always use the soft sell approach with the folks that express interest in our fund.

I always preferred the gambling that came with free soft drinks, scantiliy clad women and all the bells and whistles.

It is also where I am speculating in the markets.Especially soft commodities like agriculture.

I have a vacant property in North Philly that I installed an alarm system and a couple flood lights so copper thieves don't get in.Other problems with North Philly:Bad School District (well Philly in general has bad School Districts)Crime (both soft and hard)Drugs, my friend saw a man in a suit selling "pizzas" in the middle of Broad Street.

(insert some smiling small talk here) and then (lean in and softly) say - look; you know I have been meaning to talk to you anyway.

For simplicity's sake let's ignore the soft costs like closing, title, and inspection.Scenario 1: You spend your 50k on buying one of them outright, and your gross income is $9000/yr (750*12).

I'm a lazy buyer in the soft markets. 

This is not a bad thing as long as it is a healthy correction and soft landing.  

I recently had a contractor come out to a property in Whittier, CA (1640 sq ft home on a 6400 sq ft lot) that needs a complete gut rehab and below is the soft quote he gave me and everything he'll cover for $170K.