. - Prices are too high- Prices are falling- Interest rates are too high- My Cousins, Mothers, Sister told me that Real Estate is too riskyThere’s never a “perfect” time, but everyone wishes that they started sooner.

Grocers must eat the loss of their fresh vegetable or frozen foods during a power outage.

Just food for thought- It's not always in your best interest to provide all of the materials, negotiate too hard, refuse to pay a deposit, etc.

One thing to consider is whether a two-family twproperty might provide better cash flow than a condo, especially with NYC’s high costs.

Would love cash flow, of course, but if I could at least break even on a highly appreciating property, I'd be happy with that. 

If you do not report these earnings to the IRS, you can incur IRS penalties as high as $580 – for each worker ($290 for not sending it to the IRS + $290 for not sending it to the contractor)!

Quote from @Tom Hall: My mortgage rate is very high  and I would like to pay some of it off, so that my monthly payments would go down a bit, I dont know if it is financial smart to do it or not?

Other advice, especially that pertaining to tax benefits, is also highly appreciated!

There isnt any one magic "cheapest" loan - it will be highly specific to the deal.

For active investments I advocate considering how you can diversify WITHOUT ceding your competitive advantage nor the superior profitability of the niche your in.As an example my business is running an investment fund and syndication high interest commercial mortgage loans secured by income producing real estate.