I second @Bill Leonard (not related ;-) the podcasts are gold.See you around BP and maybe at the next BP Lake Charles meetup scheduled for next month on the 24th. 

However, the new rental is a new property to me and while I'm doing everything I can to have all the pieces working, I might miss something.I have had a vacation out of the country scheduled for about 9 months(before I even thought about buying this property).

Commercial loans do typically have higher interest rates, shorter amortizations schedules, and balloon payments.

You will run into trouble if you slack with cost or schedule control, and I have paid my tuition in the school of the hard knocks myself.A project of that scope, in my opinion, would be a "barely worth looking at" project from my perspective having done 25 renovations, 17 of them total guts, 11 of them over 100k each.It is a personal opinion, and it is not because the money isn't to be made there.

@Kyle Murphy, Hello, I just talked with my brother in San Jose and he said that the big earthquake is scheduled for this week.

Conforming rules allow for you now to convert your primary to an investment, regardless of your equity position.As for the Duplex, they should be able to utilize a rent schedule, done by the appraiser, included on the appraisal, in order to offset a large percentage of the PITI. 

Most of my seller-financed loans are on 24-yr amort schedules at 5-6%.  

My schedule is fairly flexible so whatever works best for the three of you.  

This is why I will only work with contractors that are willing to work on a draw schedule with the money coming after an inspection of the work has been completed.

I have prepared numerous Schedule E's, Form 1065's, Schedule K-1s and also worked on a couple of 1031 exchanges during my time at the CPA firms.Any advice or resources for getting the ball rolling with real estate investing would be greatly appreciated!