I am biased about this.

@Max Balesteri I'm obviously going to be biased toward Raleigh, NC, but it really is just a fantastic place to own a home.  

Asset protection attorneys are biased because they would be happy to take your money. 

You can learn a lot by listening to the podcasts (I might be biased but here's my favorite - I got interviewed in it - LOL).http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/04/10/bp-podcast-065-creative-investing-wendell-de-guzman/Also, you can learn a lot by following my weekly business update where I share with BP Nation what's going on with my real estate business.

To you old salts, gender neutral :),As an investor with 25+ years experience and a portfolio of single-family detached houses that have been rented and managed through those years while holding down an 8 to 5 office job, I am inquiring from those of you who have transitioned out of the 8 to 5 rat race into full-time living off your investments how you did it.

So i would suspect a slight bias in favor of direct investing over REITs.

We see some bias to the success stories in what is posted, and as Steve and others mention, there is just as much or more to learn in those low points..Errors in strategies, facts, and even larger economic trends can make us miss...Fun real estate aside from the region....would have been late 1980's, in Casper, I mowed lawns for a guy with the hud contract for all vacant foreclosed homes in the area, and we did hundreds, not exaggerating, entire neighborhoods, one next to the others all empty,,dead grass (which was easy to mow btw)..

I may be a little biased, as I am an attorney, but there is a reason that attorneys refer to LegalZoom affectionately as "legaldoom".

I do believe that the Eastside of Charlotte is going to increase in value quite a lot but I live in East Charlotte so might be bias and can't tell if I am just getting emotionally attached and talking myself into the deal because it has a pool and sweet entertaining backyard or because its a good move.

It's easy to confuse our own biases for that of the market - which is why it's important to talk with people who understand the market for these kinds of properties (property managers, agents, investors, etc.).