Tightening your belt, living below your means, not "poppin bottles, buying prada bags, and straight ballin" can be tough (for some).

I have yet to find any local investors with apartment purchases under their belt, however.

@Dmitriy Fomichenko @George Blower @Brian Eastman @Daniel DietzThis is all wonderful information.  

These are not what I consider to be passive types of investments.The belt line for developers stalled last time from TAD funding falling through.

Fast forward a year and i've been out almost two months with almost 20k in savings and the option of a VA home loan under my belt.

Once you get one under your belt, you'll be in a better position to negotiate more friendly terms?

That way when a deal becomes available, you immediately know it and are able to pull the trigger on the property.Maybe I am biased, but I think the best way to go about things is to get your first deal under your belt and see how it goes.  

41 questions for employing brokerI plan on continuing to work in inspection until I have a couple investment properties under my belt ( 6 month time frame on this).

Wholesaling works better in areas were there are huge amounts of surplus homes and dead and dying areas were the real estate community does not want to work and sellers are just happy someone is interested in working with them.. that's not the case in most west coast areas.. not that it cant be done.the wholesalers I know in these markets spend 100 to 300k or more  a year in marketing and they also close on much of what they wholesale.. different ball game here than in the mid west rust belt cities.

When you get a few deals under your belt you can increase your marketing costs and tests more avenues.One thing though, please don't do bandit signs unless they are legal in your area.