My thought, however, is that the "sweet spot" on the spectrum is really at the lower end of Value Add (approaching rehibilitation but not there).I'm thinking the sweet spots for my first investment should be:1) 20 Units in Value Add 2) 5-10 Units in RehabBoth of these conditions would be coupled with some quick financial measure to identify properties that warrent further research, perhaps by applying the 2% rule to the sum of purchase cost + upfit costQuestions for those of you with experience in this space1) What is your Sweet Spot and why?

Property values are subjective and even an appraisal is not always the best estimate of actual ARV esp. if there are a lot of foreclosures in the area but it does provide a generally accepted measure of value.

According to the recently released Nationwide Health of the Housing Market Report, Philadelphia follows Pittsburgh, PA and Cleveland, OH as the top housing markets in nation.See links below for more information.http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nationwide-unveils-broad-measure-of-us-housing-landscape-that-signals-healthiest-outlook-since-2001-2015-03-31http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/where-are-the-healthiest-us-housing-markets/vi-AAajaf4?

The inspection passed, but it was interesting - in conversation, the inspector mentioned that the RRIO standards are vague, open for interpretation, and keep updating as they discover some standards are more stringent than the code requirements would have been for some properties, depending on property age. 

A lot of real estate books don't go too heavy into calculations, but if you're like me you'll really appreciate Frank Gallinelli's book, What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know About Cash Flow ...And 36 Other Key Financial Measures. 

And Berkshire Hathaway is not high yield by almost any measure.  

As we say in construction, measure twice, cut once.

Europe has been densely populated and has a hierarchal society of owners and pwasants which is what America stood against - Germany is more elitist capitalist oriented than the US is, despite other measures of "socialism" which might be argued started with Bismark.

Right now I spend at least 40 hours per week, so 160 per month, but with smart phones and email happening all the time it is tough to measure.

I was thinking maybe a session on building a basic website for real estate investors, real estate investors guide to understanding social media (maybe a four part- 1) understanding the platforms & identifying what works for you, 2) optimizing and measuring success and analytics, 3) crafting the message & building your community, 4) managing the process and content creation calendars). maximizing technology/automation for your real estate investing business, email marketing success strategies, and whatever else real estate investors wanted to learn about to DIY on the web.