I recently had a long-term (5.5 years) tenant move out. She was a fantastic tenant—always paid on time, easy to work with, and took good care of the property overall. She did move in two cats during her tenancy (with ...

There are still tons of MLS deals getting done regularly. 

I know that the general guidance is that emergency funds aren't to be invested, but given our financial security and the fact that we already have a personal e-fund in a safe, non-volatile location, would it still be crazy/unwise to invest this 15k in an S&P500 index fund in a brokerage? 

@Bob Asad at our bank, we have an escrow account for security deposits, it is set up with sub-accounts for each tenant with their security deposit amount and their SSN.

I get rid of bad tenants regularly and have never paid any of them to leave.

However, i'll likely be looking at additional ways down the road to be even more secure for a backup what if scenario.  

I plan to manage the properties myself until it conflicts with my regular job.I would appreciate any advice on these markets to ensure success and connect with local investors.    

We refer folks to bank-type lenders regularly throughout the year when that make more sense for our clients. 

If your goal is financial security for your family, how do those things further or impede those goals? 

I understand that they operate in real estate under one of a few exemptions from registering as a security with the SEC.