Hi Rita,I'm not out of the rat race yet, but the thing that got me to jump into the business was when I was a volunteer at a state prison in WA, teaching a class on life skills.

Can't hurt to do both, point being is don't be sold on realtor hype - but the local realtors no doub thave great knowledge.Perhaps do it in the reverse order so that you have more petinent local questions to ask the realtor on the bus tour.Local REIA is a good suggestion as well.If by emerging you mean not in your traditional big metro hubs and areas that are growing in jobs and population, I tend to think and hear alot about Missouri, Colorado, Alabama, the Carolinas, and of course Texas (but when so many people are touting texas it makes me wonder if prices may be a bit inflated - perhaps it's just BPers that are privvy to the "Texas Train")Nothing like bringing life to an old thread..

I love life and I genuinely love living everyday filled with gratitude for what I have and what I want to become.

I'm talking about talking to real people that you meet in everyday life.

For me, thats a lot of money at this point in my life.

I saw these guys speak one time at a REIA event and made the decision that i was gonna have to take a chance if i wanted to change the direction my life was heading.

My father who grew up as the Depression was ending has been waiting all his life for this to happen or at least it seems that way.

These were friends who I knew in real life and are not sure why they were shutdown. 

As Zig Zigalr said "You can have everything you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want"Of course I'm always seeking Investors That are interested in Profit Sharing.I also have a marketing center that finds Real Estate and Business notes.I am also looking for Investors that are interested in buying notes at discount either for resale or to hold.

The thing you get here that you don't get in the books is "Real Life".