That being said, maybe you could do some property management on the side so you get a flavor for what it's like to lord the land and steepen your learning curve while you save up for your first investment.In any event, welcome aboard Hoss!

@Ali Boone ,Thanks for the flavor on enjoying the lifestyle!

I guess it's always a risk when you put your own flavor on something, and it's difficult to stay up on trends and have a current look that a majority of people are going to like. 

It was a CBD, transit oriented development deal, the flavor of the month for institutional owners, so therefore the best course for our group was to package it with the impending new entitlements and sell it to a big player. 

Read all the highly recommended  books, bought the Carlton Sheets, attended a rich dad seminar (surprisingly no Kiyosaki), a couple of flavor of the year gurus, joined a local REIA for two years, Listened to podcast on BP.

Getting back to returns Pasadena vs turnkeys...Do yourself an investor flavor and compare these numbers 5 years (60 months) vs one month as most these tk sellers try to BS you. 

Since it generally works like an annuity (there are several "flavors" some aren't like annuities) it has to be setup so it doesn't "run out" with less than 10% to the charity or else all the benefits are retroactively lost. 

My hero on this Is @Steve Vaughan  how to boot strap then kick off the boots by the fireplace Entrapranuers come in many flavors.. and like with anything... fall out is huge the ones that make it can be the most successful of all monetarily.

Keep in mind we get calls like this from people who went to the flavor of the month seminar last week on a daily basis! 

What flavor buy and hold are you looking for?