Ups and downs are inevitable, but how you deal with them will have a substantial impact on your ability to weather the first year.

(real case)But I'll take any day someone who filed bankruptcy for medical bills - people not going to die because they were not able to pay $100K for a surgery.That's why I meet every tenant and talk to them about everything: job, family, dogs, weather.....lolI want to get their character and life in general.I almost took application from a woman - she was nice and sweet and her income was sufficient with no evictions etc.

If they are moving in between the 1st and the 15th they are required to pay pro-rate plus deposit (no move in special).If they move in between the 16th and the end of the month they are required to pay pro-rate, plus full following month, plus deposit (No move in special).During times of cooler weather or historically slow months in terms of leasing, move-in specials are used as a means to place a tenant quicker without lagging in the pre-qualification area.

That should give you plenty of cash-flow breathing room and let you keep the property and better weather any economic bumps.Then, for home #2, it sounds like it might be a desirable home in a cool part of Raleigh (downtown)?

GC bid sheet is used by the appraiser to forecast the value. 

You for sure need CASH to do anything in real estate weather its buying a fixer upper a long term buy an hold or even one that your going to live in.I just wish i had done it a lot sooner like yourself .And for the people who are older there still time for us at the age of 56 years old i bought my first multi family 5 units and 2 years later i bought a 3 unit so there is still a lot to learn but having a lot of fun .Thank you Matt for sharing your wisdom

Hi all,I have read that the biggest RE developers (particularly commercial) have developed a skill to kind of "forecast" a location and / or a "sense" to know what can potentially be done with a building, my question is how am I developing that sense?

If your reserves are strong enough, you can weather a recession for at least a little while.

Weather: Cold weather can cause headaches with vacancies and even some differing repairs/expenses.

Because the reality of it is that if you can't save the capital to put 20% down, you also don't have the income to weather storms.