Hi all,My name is Ray Southern and I'm looking to break into the world of REI.I've been a web engineer in Chicago for going on 15 years now, almost completely self-taught.It's been a great career, but I need to start looking ahead to retirement.I have no experience in real estate, except a condo I bought in 2008 as my primary residence, right before the market tanked.I'm still in the condo, did some refinancing, and plan on keeping it for good (great neighborhood), maybe renting it out if I start a family and need to move.My overall plan?

I will definitely think more carefully about what all needs to be in writing and understood ahead of time in the future.

Just a heads up.

You could certainly and go ahead and do the loan route now while you have the W2 so you can take advantage of it without having to hang onto that job for too long if you want it. - You'll only need the W2 for residential loans though.

I thought of tile and stone but that is more cost to bare and I'm not on that kind of budget.Someone else mentioned going ahead and painting the book shelves and fireplace pure white and either leaving the mantle wood or painting it black to match the fireplace.

If you get your real estate license then go ahead and get  business cards. 

m=9&y=17&utm_source=HAR%2FMLS+Master+List&utm_campaign=37e6c93251-January+2017+MLS+Release&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5c0a7c027d-37e6c93251-252424337Houston Real Estate Highlights in August, 2017: Hurricane Harvey ended ten consecutive months of positive single-family home sales, as volume plunged 25.4 percent year-over-year with 5,917 units sold;Despite Harvey’s rampage, single-family home sales remain 1.8 percent ahead of the 2016 volume on a year-to-date basis;Total property sales dropped 24.2 percent with 7,077 units sold;Total dollar volume fell 22.2 percent to $2.0 billion;The single-family home median price rose 3.0 percent to $231,700;The single-family home average price increased 2.6 percent to $296,418;Single-family homes months of inventory grew to a 4.4-months supply, but is expected to shrink with strong consumer demand for housing in the wake of Harvey;Townhome/condominium sales dropped 31.4 percent, with the average price down 1.1 percent to $196,230 and the median price up 2.0 percent to $159,000;Leases of single-family homes rose 9.4 percent with average rent unchanged at $1,857;Volume of townhome/condominium leases jumped 17.0 percent with average rent down 2.2 percent to $1,551;HAR continues to encourage anyone who has housing available for temporary occupancy (up to 12 weeks) to please post it on our Harvey Temporary Housing page as soon as possible at www.har.com/temporaryhousing to provide housing to those in need.

@Kyle M.What you are likely referring to is that with real estate purchased outside of a tax-sheltered vehicle, depreciation can taken be against taxation on income.

My thought is lower cashflow is ok because I could save that $8,000 finance and buy one or two more properties and then if those are also cashflowing then I am even further ahead. 

@Roman McIntosh  go ahead and view the thing.