One of the very last podcasts (218) talks about deal flow and some marketing strategies, listen to it carefully and you'll learn most of what you can with a guru, but above all, apply it...Best of luck!! 

I apply the fee to the first months rent because we are hard up for money where I live.

If you don't know real estate, this would be the same for  you if you just want to invest, not wanting to do the work nor learn nor wanting to do option 1. excellent post Ke Nan, couldn't agree more, and Chris, if y'all are working full time, then may be most efficient to maximize your W2 earnings as you are, then plough the savings into Real Estate syndications to get many of the same tax benefits you would get from direct real estate ownership but without all the time investment of dealing with tenants/toilets/and termites etc.

Please feel free to reply to this post or send me a direct message.

You ideally want a paper loss to minimize taxes and potentially even take it further and apply the loss against other income you have as Bill mentioned in the comment. 

Directly North is still A market-Shawnee)It looks good with straight investor metrics using Fannie Mae conforming loans (25% down, 7.1% rate with a few points) and easy ARV monthly rent of $1700/unit ( I get this number based on the exact same floor plan in Raytown with complete rehab placing a tenant at $1500, and Raytown gets lower rents than Roeland Park KS.)

The capacity exists to build hundreds of thousands of homes per year that directly benefit low-income areas. 

I am currently having a website built that will sync with Airbnb and VRBO, but my focus will be getting more direct bookings.

you need all 3 of those. no offense but just to be direct - it sounds like you may not be ready to make offers.are you looking at properties in person? 

This applies to not only my RTP properties, but Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, New Mexico, Tennessee, etc., I've done it the same way there.In regards to title-- you have title insurance likely when you got the mortgage for the house.