I'm a newbie investor excited to jump into the real estate game.

If you have ever heard the saying you have to be in the game to win the game, I have found that you have to look for properties constantly to find the deal you want, but along the way you find a lot of other properties, that if you had your real estate license you could have made money on. 

This circumvents HR, which usually just sends me to The Work Number, one of the most useless companies since the establishment of western civilization.

Hard money and private money loans can ultimately feel like high-stakes games, but if you have the appropriate plan in place and add a little comedy to the mix, you'll discover that the trip was well worth it in the end.

As you get further away from standard real estate practice, the risk is increased by a “legal” risk that your protection may be interpreted quite differently than you expect by a court and that the subtleties of the protection a mortgage or trust deed document provide with established law and court decisions handed down for (in the U.S.) 250+ years is not existent. 

Plus, older properties in established neighborhoods often have more stable appreciation over time.On the other hand, the new development, though slightly more expensive, might offer modern amenities, energy efficiency, and potentially lower maintenance costs.

@Aramazt Tanashian I'd be cautious as no expert works for free.So, either this person talks a good game, but doesn't know what they are doing, OR they are hiding how they'll make money finding you a property & rehabbing it for them to manage.EXAMPLE: contracting companies make 20-40% markups, so why would this consulting company not charge to handle rehabbing a property for you?

It is true that more experienced investors will often have better construction networks, resources, and established processes that will allow them to pay more and somehow profit more.

Avoid the capital gains and use your Shedule E, LLC or business returns to offset passive income with great tax deductions and write offs.A fix and Flip can offer a good way to get some fast cash and deal with taxes in aother manner but again its still not the long game I think works best. 

A good contractor that has established themselves in Detroit and a realtor/broker that runs all over Detroit checking out properties I find on and off markets.