The housing stock in Bremerton is older and many houses are in need of some repair, but a lot of them are also charming (wood floors, leaded glass windows etc). 

Works like a charm.

On top of that, what if all of a sudden you need a new roof, or windows, or a sewer line, or the irrigation system freezes, leaks and floods the basement, or a fire guts the place and your insurance only covers some of the vacancy/rebuild costs, or a flood washes it away and you didn't have flood insurance, or your tenant stops paying and their estranged lover/stiffed drug dealer breaks in and destroys the place, or any one of a myriad possible bad things happens because you have an investment that hinges upon human behavior, and therefor needs constant baby sitting, and 5 years of your glorious $500/month is wiped out in one afternoon, and the bank takes the property?

Worked like a charm for me here in San Francisco :)

No, be smart about it, get an education, no matter how easy or fun anyone makes R.E.I to appear, its hard work, takes capital...And more importantly it takes time to be to sucessful, unless you have a pot of gold to push you faster...For me i love real estate, i live it breathe it,eat it and sleep it....make sure this isnt just a faze, or you watched to many episodes of flip this house, now its got you excited, be sure you love it before you choose to throw away an education. 

While asking questions over the phone does eliminate some perspective tenants from viewing the unit, I've found that quite a few will lie (especially about credit), thinking they can use charm/pleading to convince me to make an exception for them. 

@Nicholas Gray I was in the same boat with my career (as a fellow millennial for the nay sayers...) and you have to do some research to figure out what you really love.

My schtick was Drive Control Automation...loved it but the politics etc drove me crazy.I called it quits @ 49 only because we had accumulated a good stable of quality properties.I love RE & the constant challenges.

It works like a charm but I haven't used it for anything other then electric failure.

I love RE because it provides me a fixed income.