-Warren Buffet.If on the other hand you know nothing about REI and have no interest in learning or actively managing your portfolio, then that is a passive investment ... in that case you should buy a basket of REITs and/or a S&P500 index fund and diversify away.

Don't load up and put all of your eggs in one basket, but I think it is a sound long term play.  

Attics with walk-up stairs that have the space and headroom requirements are, in my mind, low hanging fruit/value add propositions.  

That way you don't have all of your eggs in one basket.

You're putting too many eggs into one basket to count on this property.

Good luck and may the year of 2017 be a fruitful one!

You may not learn exactly what you need to be an investor, but you should never put all of your eggs in one basket. 

If the world goes to hell in a hand basket, I want my primary residence free and clear and my rental properties carrying any debt I choose to carry on them, paid for by the residents that are living in them.  

For example: the borrower claimed $40,000 a year of income as a seasonal fruit harvester.

Fruits of your labor will come later.