You will always be the "fat-cat, big-shot investor" who stole his house out from under him when he was vulnerable.

However it was a new construction.1st and 2nd Floor windowsContractors can in general overbid a lot of things.

Canadian financial institutions are also very strict in their financing criteria, once again this is all to my current knowledge and im  trying to learn as much as i can in financing my next deal so as to use other financing methods 

I'm a Baruch College graduate and I currently work in the IT industry, as well as a licensed real estate agent.I've been lurking through this board and reading as much as I can in regards to investing and I'd like to get the opinion of those that are much more experienced and knowledgable than I in regards to a choice that I'm currently attempting to make.As I mentioned, I work in both the IT industry (12 hour night shifts, 3-4 days out of the week), and I put in full-time hours in the real estate office.

Yes, you can- in California I was able to deduct $25 per hour for cleaning, but check on Michigan laws before you deduct.

The idea is to simply start as early as we can in building our portfolio while being wise at the same time.For the experts out there, what advice or words of caution would you urge?

So if you have no REI experience, 50% on REI, the max you can in SDIRA, keep the rest as a reserve or emergency funds

However I have reading as much as I can in the last two weeks and I came across a for sale by owner sign.

Grayhorse Investments LLC.I'm looking to build a power team of professionals to help me so I can in turn help others

Very honestly, Im interested in helping with deals, riding along with a mentor, and learning everything I can in the hopes of quickly building a cash flowing rental portfolio using creative (or non creative) financing either with partners or solo.