I believe your point was more about if you are a W2 and expect retirement savings if you are lucky with your 401k to get you to where you want to be when you retire then yea, that is taking a gamble given the access to wealth building vehicles that are possible in today's world.

It's gamble that's worth it at the price they've bought it at.

Investing is not gambling.  

The situation: Recently moved back to where I was born and raised (Vallejo, CA/Bay Area) and after several interviews I'm needing to decide between a few job offers:1-Enterprise Rent-A-Car (Mgmt Trainee)2-Sequoia Equities (Apt Leasing Consultant)3-Redfin (Sales support)The dilemma: I do have an interest in REI, would love to be able to coordinate some flips as well as delve into buy and hold Multifamily opportunities (which is where prop mgmt comes into play).

I really don't think they are "misconceptions" by NEWER INVESTORS"  I think they are misdirected thoughts by the establishment PL...the NEW breed that has basically taken over the PL Enterprise...after 2007...  

Let me be real clear that this property was so unique that it would be a gamble as a flip, so it only made sense if we were going to either a) live in it or b) rent it or c) do both, live in and rent it.

Only the most desperate renters would probably agree to live there so the price of the property would have to be dirt cheap and cost you as little money as possible in the rehab to make it worth the effort.Your gambling that the surrounding area will be gentrified in the next few years and increase the property values.If this was in Southern California I would say yes absolutely but,the ATL may be a little harder to wait for unless the population booms there in the next 5 years.

Hi,I am new in this field. However, I been in construction, sub-contractor, in particular, flooring and remodeling for 16 years. Looking to transition from physical labor and earned income to more of the passive incom...

When you sell a rental property at some point in the future (at least a year out), this is not viewed as a flip transaction, but rather just a reallocation of the IRA from holding passive real estate to holding cash.Your example of buy, fix, rent for 3 months, then sell would likely be viewed as a flip, especially if you repeated this pattern with multiple properties.The IRS does not define a "flip" in clear terms, but has a full set of measures they would apply to real estate transactions to determine whether something is a passive investment or a trade or business activity similar to competing commercial enterprises.  

Carter enterprises, LLC so he might be holding some real estate in that LLC too.