@Patrick Diamond Thank you for your message!

You're definitely not the only one in the Ocean State on here at all.You mentioned making new friends, so when your time allows, I'd recommend checking out the RI Real Estate Investor Group and if you have any interest in Massachusetts I'd also recommend Black Diamond REI.I'm assuming the real estate classes you picked up were through the RI Association of Realtors but in case not, I also recommend the RIAR classes.

Mike Hurney runs one you can also attend Black Diamond in Waltham and/or the NEREIA in Chelmsford. 

The Black Diamond event in Waltham in next Tuesday and a great one to go to (2nd location in Worcester too) and also the Boston Area REIA meets next Thursday in Medford so that is a close one that is good for newbies.  

It isn't everyday that I can do this but I think I have another diamond on my hand in the West View area of Atlanta.

If he had USED and leveraged Google and the internet, he wouldn't have to do the work and reach out to a ton of people hoping to finally find a diamond in the rough, right?

You can do amazing things with a good tile saw and a set of diamond buffs for a drill.

Sometimes I think that I'm so anxious to get something going that maybe I should just start with any decently safe deal and get my feet wet- start getting some cash flow (even if it's trivial at first), start getting some equity via debt reduction, start getting some tax benefits, and maybe even some appreciation due the market slowly creeping upward.Maybe an OK deal would be better when started now v/s searching and waiting for that one diamond...

Diamonds in the rough ..or best to avoid them, especially for a newbie?

Besides that you want to check out the Black Diamond meeting in Waltham (2nd location in Worcester) as well.