Bringing it to the present, the recent crash in oil prices will certainly hurt short term distributions, but similar to when real estate crashes, there are plenty of great deals to be had for those who have cash on the sideline and can buy in for the ride back up when prices recover.I'm surprised there are not more people talking about or considering cashflow O&G on this forum.

If your in a really hot market you might want to lean more towards a quicker flip type of deal or buy and hold in a really safe area where you might get smaller cash flow but less risk of losing money if the market goes cold.If the market is cold then it would be a great time to buy some holds and get nice cash flow going then you can always look at selling when the market is hot again.I think if you wait for the "right" time then you will keep watching from the sideline and never become the investor you want to be.

I'm just out of the military and getting a real estate finance degree and would like to rehab and hold but currently sitting on the sidelines trying to learn as much as I can.From my understanding, you could buy with hard money, rehab, finance after rehab with a traditional mortgage based on the equity in the house and the fact that you may already have a tenant paying rent.  

I tend to be the crawl before I walk type when it comes to new opps and have been keeping my eyes wide open when it comes to CF investments and reading and learning while sitting on the sidelines.

That's the goal but there are other ways to increase yield with a property.Better to keep your money on the side lines then invest in a bad deal.

don't be in a rush to jump in... there are always deals.. and unless you think there is going to be drastic appreciation what are you losing... 2 to 3k by sitting on the sidelines a few years until you get back.. ?? 

So...I'll be just on the sidelines observing for now.

No, you wont, you'll just stay on the sidelines while everyone else plays ball on the field. 

I’ve been sitting on the sideline just learning for the last year or so, and I remember in the beginning it was very overwhelming to know which direction to go.

I see alot of people on the side lines analyzing or attending meetups, but never taking action.