I've been in your situation and nothing can prepare you for losing a parent.

You don't want to lose your rate on the house you are living in now unless you want to sell it so since that is an owner-occupied, you need to stay there and save up the 20 percent for the second property based on what you said.

As a neighbor, personally I don't care if someone smoke a little weed every now and then, but if they are smoking non stop 25 times a day, you might lose a good tenant over that. 

, it's still highly unlikely that an appraiser would have given value to this bathroom in any case, so we're not losing anything from an appraised value standpoint.Seller should be more than OK with it once you educate them on the fact that of all the offers they are evaluating, yours is the only one willing and able to execute a plan to close on-time, without delay, in spite of the flagrantly illegal and unpermitted bathroom.

@Aleksandra DrovalI'm not sure what statistics you're looking at but everything I've read and heard shows exactly te opposite, that hotels are losing to Airbnb precisely because of the experience.

Mine was also out of state, in a town I’d never visited, and I relied heavily on videos from my agent.This sounds like a tough first deal, but it seems like you have some capital on the side, which will be useful as you face the upcoming challenges and learn from those expensive early mistakes.Regarding the subject of this post, “help me adjust my expectations,” I’d recommend assuming that; repairs will cost twice as much as you estimate, maintenance and vacancy rates will likely double from your initial projections, there’s a very real chance you may lose money on this deal.That said, there are ways to mitigate these risks by:- Keep asking questions here on BP and connecting with local experts- Stay proactive and communicative with your agent and property manager.And remember “Inspect what you expect.”Im not trying to discourage you but to help reset your expectations.

I would love to make a move before the end of the year and so I keep trying to decide which of the following is best for me:1) Buy 1 more expensive CA property near here, and thus a better tenant (less likely to cause issues), but lose a little bit of money every month due to the current numbers, while hoping for future appreciation? 

The terms of service still apply and the risks of losing the listings are still there.A 'brand" isn't anything other than a name attached to a person or a system or a process.

If you were only going to net 10k and the fees male you a lose then it was never a good deal.If you keep project costs less than 72.5% of the ARV then no lending can screw you. 

How cool.Well, It's because I was seen as a player, a closer (meaning I close on deals I put under contract).I said, "I didn't know you owned a building" and to that he said "yes, it's the building with two - first floor retail spaces and 9 apartments on the corner".Dang, just what I love.