There's definitely a lot of red tape, BUT, getting money to purchase and rehab a property at market interest rates is definitely worth it!

They could hang rock, tape, prime/paint, set all the fixtures, tile the tub surround with a bench (bathrooms are 6' wide requiring a bench at the end of the tub), niche, tile floor, 4" tile baseboard and install all the finishes; towel bars, lights etc...

Additional advantages of Real Estate include: Leverage, slow but steady appreciation of the underlying asset over time, constant inflation-adjusted rent increases, and with inflation and time value of money your mortgage payment is technically going down as time goes on even though the dollar amount stays the same.My opinion here has one major caveat: If you have a knob-and-tube home that's being held together by duct tape, it is obvious that if you hold, you're going to see some serious expenditures.In other words, I'm talking about doing deals where the monthly cashflows add up to less than 1% of the purchase price on properties that aren't likely to have major repairs in the short-term / mid-term future- e.g. let's say the electrical and plumbing were all recently completely redone and after scoping the sewage line it was determined to be in great shape.

I've read up a bit in the forums about how there is a lot of red tape...but it might be worth it for the right deal?

Video tape it when you enter.

The big guys are crazy regulated and rarely still own the debt, so have to go through a lot of red tape.

Avoid losing all your money to gurus who may not have any actual experience - they just sell books and tapes without investing. 7.

Well , if you havent hung drywall before , you wont hang , tape and finish 70 sheets in a couple days

What put us over the budget was not expecting to put a new asphalt driveway ($2.7K), not expecting to do all new plumbing & electrical, not expecting to do full gut on interior (WOOD is EXPENSIVE!).                                  

Typically easier to qualify for than a bank and less red tape.