Right now I am in the knowledge acquirement stage.

If you look at Silicon Valley and other technology centers around the US housing prices are pretty stable or rising.At this stage it is all about employment and how much froth there was in the prior few years.

Im very far from reaching my goal as i am still in the learning stages; but ill die before i fail.

Or there are plenty of other properties to buy as an owner so buying a conversion is not that attractive.The exception is more likely to happen when there are restrictions on new build (city center, historic areas, etc).John Corey

In the early stages assume there are hidden problems so be conservative with your estimates or keep the deal simple.A townhouse where you rent some rooms is a fine idea.

In the university area, 3br apartments would be in the $1K range.She will give me a $1000 clean-up credit towards purchase price.The strategy is to get the residential rented by advertising on bulletin boards at the med center (grad students/interns).Then advertise the property for sale as follows:FREE RETAIL SPACE FOR YOUR BUSINESS NEAR UNIVERSITY.orDistressed seller.

NNN, NNN single tennent. multi family (apartments), hotels, offfice buildings, shopping centers etc.

I'm thinking if i do the research on available houses that are undervalued of course, give her some options for purchase, and then actually spend the on-site time coordinating the rehab/renovation to her specs, and finally stage the house for resale - I could negotiate doing it for a percentage of the final sale price.Seems like a win/win - i can get the get the experience using OPM, she gets rid of the headache and we both stand to make a profit.What are y'alls thoughts on that?

Plan B is to look in the Indianapolis, Indiana, area, probably center city south to Greenwood, though I do like the areas/communities just north of Indianapolis.

It does vary from market to market, though, as a dry cleaner, fitness center and pool, in unit laundry machines in a high rise downtown Chicago building are a necessity to think about being called an A building, but in Little Rock, Arkansas (wherever that is!)