@Rich O'Brien Hey, I hope things are picking up in your life now.Wanted to check-in and see how things are going as well.This community seems to be so helpful, I'm glad you were strong enough to post about your situation.

With a budget of $300K-$400K, you could potentially find single-family homes or small multi-units in those areas.I'd recommend researching rental demand near universities like Duke or NC State or even checking out neighborhoods with strong job growth near tech hubs.

Buy quality properties in strong submarkets, finance with low leverage, bulk up on cash reserves, diversify geographically, and you'll be positioned to survive whatever the economy throws at you.

Treat this property as a business and factor in all the associated expenses, including mortgage payments (if you pull a loan), maintenance, and potential vacancy periods.To simplify management and make this less of a hands-on job, I’d strongly recommend working with a property management company.

This deal leveraged strategic financing, value-add renovations, and market knowledge to deliver a strong return.

I am considering offering him $1.8m with a low (or no) down payment and seller financing at a low interest rate so I can at least break even on cash flow after getting rent closer to market value and with upside potential as a MTR and strong  appreciation opportunity.

I believe in this so strongly that I have even once confronted a large advertising client about this issue when I discovered they had language to this effect in their terms of use in the past, and asked them to change their policy, at risk of material revenue loss to our company.

I know it is strongly encouraged here for "credibility" reasons, but I personally think that is a bunch of bull. 

Hi Steven,It sounds like you and your wife, Renee, have a wealth of experience in the real estate and construction fields, which is a great foundation for starting your real estate investing business.Given your background in residential remodeling and home inspections, and Renee's experience as a real estate agent, you're off to a strong start.

Propstream is great as a list aggregator but I know many users who have better luck skip tracing outside of their system.