These are just my observations.

One thing I did was to attend just to observe the process.

Independent appraisers hired by banks and review appraisers hired by bank auditors or bank over-sight agencies reconcile actual observed construction features with assessment and building department records.You mentioned that your Realtor has found recent sales for you to use as support for lowering your assessment on appeal.

I Have been interested REI since childhood but it is only this year that I am able to actually jump in and make my first purchase after some preparation Which I know won’t be enough, like taking an expensive coaching course, podcasts watching, lots of reading, much of it on this forum but just as an observer, deciding what strategy suits me best and paying off my home to use it equity as capital.The strategy I decided to adopt is to buy and hold modest single family homes purchased for $30,000 or less.I know that distance is an additional challenge I am going to confront, but with the help of one of my daughters willing to be active on the field along with solid property management I am going to get it started.I am unable to attend any REIA meetings so I will rely heavily on education available in this community as I have seen it to be very solid and supportive.

For me, I think of it like playing Monopoly sort of, in that I would one day like to stand back and observe all that I have built and accomplished and the opportunity I can give others.How I ended up here:I discovered Bigger Pockets after searching for podcasts on investing in general.

hello, family I'm new to real estate investing looking to get started but I would love to be able to have a mentor and just observe him or her.

Right now is not a seller's market anyway so I think renting it out and observing the cash flow for the first several months is a good strategy. 

The local VA hospital may have an idea of what options there are  for him but my observation is that sometimes people need a little push to seek services.

In allot of places what I am observing is the the real estate market is on a come back.

As of now I am here to observe and learn before diving in.