The second time is for emphasis I'm not meaning to yell, mostly the emphasis is made for Erick, you mentioned license requirements :)

If I were you, I would exploit the experience with architecture and pursue a MS in Real Estate Development with an emphasis in public works/government and or developing raw land into communities.

I also would rather establish a good working relationship with my tenants with an emphasis on communication rather than try to nickel and dime them for every fee I could justify charging them.

Global real estate license (https://grel.org) has pretty useful real estate courses.

@Matt RayThere are a lot of different factors to consider and what you place emphasis on will largely depend on your RE investing goals, risk tolerance and available cash for property purchase.

If it's a high end property, many of the larger brokerages have fine tuned marketing systems that expose your properties to global buyers, etc. 

My emphasis is first on buying a couple multi family properties and then flipping once I have some cash flow.

I DID read a book on them, that Jussier(or something) buy but i believe his emphasis was on commercial.

Rental Returns and Cap appreciation rates varies depending on the country you choose to purchase.Markets that tend to be less dependent on credit are faring better with the global credit crisis.According to the recent survey by AFIRE predict that foreign investors in real estate expect to spend in '09 than in '08.

This is how I would categorize lenders with some basic limiting underwriting factors:Banks/credit units - long seasoning, GLOBAL DTI, rigid documentation, good/long-term ratesTier 1 private money (institutional private money) - Short seasoning, property DTI, rigid doc, good/long-term rates (not as low as banks)Tier 2 private money (institutional private money) - Short seasoning, NO DTI, asset based, moderate doc, higher long term ratesTier 3 private money (institutional private money - bridge term lending, typically interest only type loans for 12-24 months.