All kinds of stories of people "negotiating" with people in their 90's or someone who just lost a parent leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Apparently, there is a market for hip "retro" features among people without taste. ;-)

@Jarrett Winston Congrats on a taste of success right out of the gate -- wishing you many more!

But I'm definitely leaning heavily towards renting for a while while doing my diligence.On my Sonoma property, highest and best use would be something light commercial like a tasting room.

Now that they have gotten a taste of the money they can make off of fines they are going to hit every infraction they can find.

Once you confirm that the AC conforms to whatever is legally required, and is functioning properly (even though it might not be strong enough for the tenants' taste), offer cash for keys.

I see the value of Real Estate Trusts but this set up seems a little too sketchy for my taste.  

Chicago's market is very expensive (for me at least) and my girlfriend has very expensive taste as well so the cheapest place i have found was 800k for a 4-plex. 

It seems as though my taste in properties does not match my capital for the common 20% down requirements.

My main goal right now is to learn the ins and outs of the industry, and purchase my first property before the start of 2018.On the reading list right now is:The Ultimate Beginners Guide to Real Estate Investing (Brandon Turner)The Miracle Morning (Hal Elrod)The Book on Rental Property Investing (Brandon Turner)Since these first posts are more meant as an Ice breaker, I'll throw out that my favourite kind of ice cream is vanilla, because it pairs with toppings so well, and tastes good by itself.