Welcome to BP @Chris Jones Be sure to read the Bigger Pockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing to start off as Josh and Brandon put a lot of time into that great publication.

Ultimately I believe in getting educated, and if that means hire a coach, which is really nothing different than a guru, or read this site or buy books or whatever it is you need to learn, then do it.

Be sure to read through The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing to help you get started.Also - here's a couple articles you might enjoy:The 21 Best Real Estate Investing Books Ever How to Rent Your House: The Definitive Step by Step GuideFinally -be sure to setup some keyword alerts - especially for "Topeka or Coachella Valley" so you can jump into local conversations.See you around the forums!

Be sure to read through The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing to help you get started.Finally -be sure to setup some keyword alerts - especially for "Rocklin" so you can jump into local conversations.See you around the forums!

Not sure if 3% is good enough unless you get some appreciation of rents and ultimate sale.

Be sure to read through The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing to help you get started.

Be sure to read through The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing to help you get started.Finally -be sure to setup some keyword alerts - especially for "San Mateo" so you can jump into local conversations.See you around the forums!

Ultimately, only you know what you are truly capable of.

They either don't know or won't say who they work for / who ultimately pays their bills.I would like to buy the next-door-to-mine house.

I had a very similar issue about 5 years ago, a shared driveway, same owner on both but only one property was secured, the shared driveway survived for use to both parcels.