The point of this rule is simply to do a quick evaluation of a property, not as the end all, be all of yoiur expense ratios..Ultimately, you need to dig deep into the particular investment and accurately figure the expenses.

At this stage, I'm really just trying to educate myself about the RE business and this specific market, but the area of interest for me is SFRs, condos and/or multis that I could purchase at deep discounts to buy and hold and rent out.

People get excited when they see an ad and then write the person for more info, but deep down inside can't afford it or haven't really thought about it.I'm sure it would be helpful to an extent, but I wouldn't make any financial decisions off of the 'interest' a CL gets.

(Deep breath)Yes, I'm sure there are numerous cases where people were put into bad loans.

While housing values will keep dropping for a minimum of another year or two (or five, depending on how deep this goes), inflation is about to run rampant.

My opinion is not to throw away a lead that could be a good deal, especially when you're starting out.Short sale is the way to go in these cases, but you want to ensure that you're signing up properties that have a good chance of getting a deep discount from the lender.Such properties are those that have volatile features that can be pointed out and negotiated/overestimated by the lender.

First step: take a deep breath.Next, have you picked your niche?

In Denver you'd pay a lot more for a "deep cleaning".

How deep into RE are you?

I believe truely successful investors are self-driven from somewhere deep inside themselves.