If you plan on owner occupying you will get to participate in the first look period.

I participated in the Yonkers meet up and it was great, i met like minded individuals and finally got the play the cash flow game. it was great. looking forward to more meetings and meeting more people. i am interest also in sitting down with a CPA to discuss my goals. 

This is the only local group that I know of other than the Rental Association...http://www.meetup.com/Medford-Real-Estate-Networki...Great group, lots of enthusiasm, and always welcoming new participants!

It's nice that the seller is willing to participate in the financing but you may want to think carefully about those terms, what the net operating income is, where you are in the cycle, and if you can negotiate for better terms.If they want principal back in 5 years I would drop the amortization and just stick with interest only or more payments.

When I try to put my own user name in that field to narrow down the results, it comes up with a bunch of posts that I didn't even participate in and neither did anyone else with a similar user name.Anyway, this could be one way to solve this problem. 

Read the blogs, participate in the forums, listen to the podcasts, and check out the BP books.

I hope that my participation (mostly lurking for now) on this forum will help me build that network in California and my knowledge base as I accumulate a nest egg through my day job.As far as tackling the high prices in my area, I have a great interest in starting with a single family home in Stockton (about 1.5 hours away), and moving onto multi-families once I get that first property under my belt.

Every county is not universal in the state of Maryland so if you are participating in a tax sale then it will be good to check with the county to see what the redemption time frame is. 

You can effect the outcomes in your building if you participate and make your voice heard.  

It is simply a means to diversify your IRA, not a way that you can personally access the funds for your own purposes.Do some reading here on BP and you will identify a few providers of both service types that participate here regularly.