Having a house with a yard is a huge plus in my mind so while I think you will get pinched a bit (rent flat to down 10% or longer vacancies of 1-2 months), there will always be a demand for entry level house rentals.

Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get. 

When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.11.

I try not to do much side work but I like to help people out in a pinch.

I was in a pinch to close quickly and I trusted they would complete the work in the following days (my third mistake).Anyway it's been a month and every time I try to do something, it's 10X more difficult than it should be and more expensive.Every time I turn around, there's something going wrong in this place, and I am just at my wits end.What would you do?

The point should be to get into contract so somebody else cannot "pinch" your deal.Example of the the gold medal: My 6 unit building, all 1/1's, within 10 min walk to a BART station. 

This makes it very secure [more than wall street] for them.All of my lenders enjoy strong double digit annual returns and only spend a few hours a year [making wire transfers] to realize this profit.Yes, I am biased when it comes to RE or Wall Street - but ponder this and you'll see why:  We all know bankers are some of the most penny pinching individuals on the planet, right?  

Eric NA For your first property I typically advise keeping your expenses low, you're likely pinching pennies to make the deal happen.

Oh, and I love chocolate!

I know that I am going to get some judgement here, but anytime I've been in a pinch, whether it personally, or getting a deal done, I've figured out a way to make it happen.