For years I bought everything that came out and attended every seminar I could and I was more than happy to pay whatever they asked because I knew that if I did nothing more than learn one brand new thing that would make me tens, or hundreds of thousands of dollars, it was worth it.

I just hate to buy a brand new car.

The upstairs tenants will be there until February, but the downstairs I plan on moving in and making it all brand new (I work with a flipper so it will all be done in house) my question is should I go strictly fha or fha with 203k to pay for the Reno?

My personal experience too and this is for those that do not plan on owning them forever and willing them to your kids or next of kin at a stepped up basis.but for those like me that were thinking hey I will own these 7 to 10 years take the write offs then sell retail..I did all that sold retail but what I was not thinking about is that a 10 to 14 year old home even though I bought them brand new.. to sell retail   what was acceptable when I bought them  tile counter tops  black appliances etc etcnow retail buyers standard is granite stainless  new paint 3 colors floors perfect etc etc.so it was costing me 20 to 25k per home to do a retail up grade to sell them for retail prices.. along with cap ex ( which in my case was minimal) since these were only 10 to 14 years old.. but then roofs being replaced because of hail that cost deductible.. and so on and so forth.. the cost of owning and keeping these nice is just more than you can raise rents in most markets.. that's my experience I got top rents in the day but they never went up much during the 10 to 14 years of  ownership.. just like I see modest type rentals that rent for 700 to 900 those rents have stayed pretty constant for the last 20 years .. and prices to fix stuff has gone way up.. 

Anyone have some advice for a brand new rehab investor on big dos and don’t for getting started.

Somehow I doubt the cost to maintain (unless brand new!)

I am brand new to the prospect of real estate investing.

I am brand new to real estate and want to learn as much as I can.

A lot of it may depend on laying out the parcel with fencing, branding, etc.  

What are your thoughts on bigger, brand name movers coming in to an already active market?