I live in CA, and like many investors, when the RE market collapsed here, I looked around for a better market to invest in. I

I talked to a contractor neighbor this morning to see about having it filled in. I

It is the area of REI that people with no money and no experience start out in. I

Which I should be doing today.I have Allstate for my car insurance and renters insurance for the apartment complex I currently live in. I

I like to drive around the areas I want to buy in. I

That I'm generating enough profit that the work I'm putting in is being well compensated (specifically, that my $/hour earn is over a pre-defined threshold).I have a percentage of my own capital tied up in my real estate business and don't have any outside investors.

It might be a better deal to buy now at 4% than to wait for the market to drop some more and risk ending up with a 7% mortgage.I suspect that buy and hold is for investors that have more time in. I

To Bryan's point, the AZ market that I invest in is picking up quite a bit faster than my Midwest location.

Just a followup as well on Driving for $$$- this used to be one of the best ways to find vacant/abandoned/troubled properties When I do drive my target areas looking for homes to buy, i'll simply create a column for each street and write down the first address I'm interested in. i

I am just trying to think of a possible exit strategy before going in. I