Quote from @Robert Smith: First time post, apologies if in wrong spot, this seemed semi-appropriate.Wife and I have 3 rental properties and 1 home, all in CA. 

It doesn't take long to learn how to spot a good deal.6.

it's a great platform to invest in the stock market with free trades?

Seems a bit high on the exp ratio near 43% but we do pay a premium for our solid cleaning lady, she also stocks supplies, runs errands and other duties for no "extra" charge.

You're spot on @Joe R. 

Leverage - someone mentioned Real Estate doesn't beat stock market returns and while that might be true in absolute terms, it's definitely beat the market when you consider leverage.

More complex than it needs to be, I know, but what else is new when dealing with the City of Chicago...Nicolas, it looks like there is some "spot zoning" within the proximity and the first thing I would recommend would be reaching out to your Alderman.

I know that you do a great job smoothing out any "rough spots" in the lending process, so that certainly helps when the deal starts to go sideways... 

Places like Memphis, Little Rock or OK are great spots to look and 200k will be plenty. 

I’ve seen too many new builds stall because no one spotted the red tape early.