Hi Chris, Before I stumbled upon BP, I thought that getting my real estate license would be the best way to get into real estate investing.

@Michael Dorr, Again, you've stumbled onto a brilliant application that actually will allow you to take advantage of tax free and tax deferred income and reduce debt at the same time if you wish - or to continue to leverage.If you hold long enough that you qualify for the 121 exemption (having lived in it for 2 out of the previous 5 years) then you would most certainly qualify for a 1031 exchange on the other portion.What you exchange and what is tax free is simply following the allocation your accountant sets up when putting the rental half into service. 

I have stumbled across this trailer park in Elberton Ga.

So I sorta stumbled across my latest purchase.

You would literally have to call each and every bank to find out the rules to each and every portfolio loan out there.I'm putting this information here in case it is helpful to you in some way or if someone else stumbles upon this topic.

There have been missteps, there have been setbacks, and there have been a lot of possible stumbling points that we've moved past.

I stumbled upon Bigger Pockets 2 months ago through a Financial Literacy blog that I follow and have been an avid listener to the podcasts, which led to peaking my interest in RE investing.

You may stumble on a desperate sales manager on the last day of the month who needs a few more sales for the month to meet his quota or win the trip to Hawaii, but basically you will get retail price.

I am looking for ideas more than just those of you who might have been lucky enough to stumble into it by having a family member who has a ton of money.

I am glad I stumbled across this forum and look forward to being a valued member.