Title Companies & Real Estate Attorneys Provide You with Title Insurance,they alert You to "clouds" on title (or anything that COULD Be a problem that the seller neglected to "mention";Home/Structural Inspectors give You a size up of repairs needed,Apprraisers give You an accurate valuation of the property & marketplace (& also point out any obvious structural or neighborhood problems)With an appraisal, You'd KNOW Whether You were potentially paying too much or not....There isn't too much left except failure to follow thru after purchase in the case of making needed repairs?

Kinda dicey.My friend's reasoning: I will have a greater equity gain on a house and perhaps a better income (again, renting out my current house instead of the condo).Then there's the other thought of selling the condo now and putting the equity into a cd, gambling that the market will flatten or dip, and buying low.

So like others have said - do your numbers - make sure they are accurate, and if a deal looks profitable - go for it.

Never been and I can't gamble yet!

Are they really accurate and reliable?

can anyone give me a good point of reference, or program that I can use to get a accurate estimate of the parts & Labor for a program like this.

(if their answer doesn't include looking to see how accurate their information was on their application vs on their credit report, NEXT!)

With a property-based business, each profit gives you a lump sum profit in a finite time period; with an investment, you get cash flow and appreciation indefinitely.There's nothing wrong with having a property-based business, it can certainly be lucrative, but I don't consider that it's accurate to call it investing.

This is a site that I've found is pretty accurate when the appraisal is ordered.

These are probably not a good idea for someone just starting out since it requires you to accurately estimate the cost of repairing a building.