I read through the Ultimate Beginner's Guide and the multi-family property investing seemed like the kind of investing I would be interested in (duplexes and triplexes) and potentially house flipping.I have some background in real estate investing - primarily doing accounting work for individuals and commercial real estate developers. 

Before having any tenants sign a new lease with you, make sure to complete your standard tenant screening and run background checks, credit reports, etc. on the tenants.

A little bit about myself...I was born and raised in Westchester, NY (about 45 minutes north of Manhattan) and currently have a career in Interior Design & Textile Sales, with an extensive background in residential design & construction.

To use an example that is more established, when you buy and sell stock on an exchange you probably have no idea what goes on in the background, nor do you care.

I am coming out of a graphic design background of 16 yrs.

I have a background in the construction industry and have watched others do it but never felt comfortable putting my family in financial jeopardy by taking the risk.

You could always go private money if you -really- want to go there, but if you are "new to the game", then I'd heavily advise you against brand new construction without either a construction or engineering background or if you are heavily banked.At 80-100k equity, you could turn that into 135-170k of buying power with bank financing at around 60% LTV (I'd be conservative if this was your first time going at it to make sure you will cashflow and establish that to keep working with your banks).

Also, I have a great background in online marketing... could I utilize that somehow?

Close on both this coming week so I'm wondering what everyone is using for there credit background checks that are free or purchased.

And in the end, they closed on the house.My background is in mineral management and that has taught me a few important things.