Hard Money finance, with about $5k of my own funds going into some over-budget costs.

For the second property, I would expect to have to put money into it in some fashion.

Purchase price: $240,000 Cash invested: $60,000 I purchased this duplex in distressed condition using owner financing for $240K and secured a $60K hard money loan for renovations.

Quote from @Katie Accashian: I am looking to take money from my retirement that I accumulated from my previous employer and move it into a self directed IRA to buy a real estate investment.

Learning that I prefer money invested in real estate over money sitting in the bank... don't we all?!

The truth is if your investors have no involvement in the operations, If they just put in money and expect to get a profit, you have created a de facto syndication.2) I see a ton of people who just raise money for the syndication. 

If you win, the tenant has X days to vacate.The entire process can be done in less than 30 days.

Quote from @Marc Zak: In the market where I live (San Diego), appreciation has been strong and many predict it will continue to appreciate in the long term.However, with current interest rates (6% at best) and property tax (2%), the annual cost burden is 8%.Am I correct in saying that appreciation has to be above 8% annually (plus whatever my maintenance and vacancy costs are) for me to make any money in this scenario if the property is cash flow neutral?

We're in the business to make money right?

@Ella Marie the Pro's are you can build long term wealth, the Cons are you can lose money if you cannot properly quantify risk.