Great question and good comments of your own.Frankly, I love stocks and have done well in the market, but, I love RE because it derives wealth creation methods as follows:1.

We are an oil city and most of our economy is derived from it.

The words in the title say primer, fear-managing because it's in advance of larger RE transactions.We can certainly talk about "expertise" because in all sectors (especially in RE) this can be perverted by financial incentive.Ex: 85% of what was later termed "worthless" derivatives and etc by reputible agencies (Moody's) had a rating of AAA.Another noteworthy point is the "underwater" nature of a large chunk of car loans.

A good friend of mine is in finance -- trader/equity analyst at a prominent broker/dealer -- and he's able to derive all kinds of economic information from the Census/Labor stats.Hope that helps.Anthony

The income for qualification is derived from the rents or the market rent.An ARM is an adjustable rate mortgage meaning the rate adjusts over a set time period. 

Hope this helps.MetricAnnualMonthlyPer Unit/MonthList Price:$210,000--Derived NOI (16% Cap Rate * List Price):$33,600$2,800$400Derived Gross Rent Assuming 50% Expense Ratio:$67,200$5,600$800Derived Net Rent Assuming 5% Vacancy:$63,840$5,320$760

We ran my numbers past the RE agent we were using and listened to his input to derive a number for our underwriting.    

At some point it will make sense to go with a property manager, but right now it's doable, enjoyable, and we are still deriving value from learning: - DAILY: About 5-10 minutes per property with individual inquiries and sending standardized guest responses.  

A person's motivation should derive from internal needs (i.e. job fulfillment, life satisfaction, or educational accomplishments).

For us, we recognize all the benefits that real estate has to offer, (sheltering income from income tax, elimination of capital gains etc....) it is my belief that you have to find somebody who understands all these benefits and can apply them in your situation to get you the benefits that can be derived from real estate, regardless of where they are!!