I'm not familiar with someone filing bankruptcy due to identity theft, however was there a Consumer Statement on her credit report that detailed the identify theft issue?  

If the pieces come together, I contact the administrator to see if the estate wants to sell the house.The process is more time-consuming than blanket marketing, but it produces more targeted leads.

Hi @Ridvan HoxhaI have always heard that the restaurant business can be extremely time consuming as well.

Make sure the HOA is healthy and reserves are strong when researching communities.Regarding the Tenant, don't feel bad about raising rents. 

Hi Chandler,Nice work on taking action on the feedback your received and working that savings goal to get started   @Thomas S. pointed out that $25k doesn't seem like enough, and I would agree it's not much to fund your down payment and have a healthy reserve. 

If you can find a condo with an active HOA and one that has a healthy reserve and is run well, condos are amazing investments.  

m=9&y=17&utm_source=HAR%2FMLS+Master+List&utm_campaign=37e6c93251-January+2017+MLS+Release&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5c0a7c027d-37e6c93251-252424337Houston Real Estate Highlights in August, 2017: Hurricane Harvey ended ten consecutive months of positive single-family home sales, as volume plunged 25.4 percent year-over-year with 5,917 units sold;Despite Harvey’s rampage, single-family home sales remain 1.8 percent ahead of the 2016 volume on a year-to-date basis;Total property sales dropped 24.2 percent with 7,077 units sold;Total dollar volume fell 22.2 percent to $2.0 billion;The single-family home median price rose 3.0 percent to $231,700;The single-family home average price increased 2.6 percent to $296,418;Single-family homes months of inventory grew to a 4.4-months supply, but is expected to shrink with strong consumer demand for housing in the wake of Harvey;Townhome/condominium sales dropped 31.4 percent, with the average price down 1.1 percent to $196,230 and the median price up 2.0 percent to $159,000;Leases of single-family homes rose 9.4 percent with average rent unchanged at $1,857;Volume of townhome/condominium leases jumped 17.0 percent with average rent down 2.2 percent to $1,551;HAR continues to encourage anyone who has housing available for temporary occupancy (up to 12 weeks) to please post it on our Harvey Temporary Housing page as soon as possible at www.har.com/temporaryhousing to provide housing to those in need.

Would like to grow a healthy cash-flow portfolio in the next 5 years to supplement (or completely replace) retirement.

I'm in analysis paralysis... but I think it's definitely necessary for a newbie to calculate and proceed with healthy caution.

@Whitney Hill - Applying rent towards the purchase price conflicts with the Dodd Frank Consumer Protection Act, but that does not apply to the option fee.