Plus you lose the luster of being in a named neighborhood.Triplex: These are super rare, and it's really going to depend on how it's laid out, size of units, etc.Fourplex: Most of the time these are two duplexes stacked on top of each other, and often they are surrounded by other fourplexes.

I have seen many stores going out of business and that technology has taken or will take physicality of having a store is losing  out over the Internet retail stores and I think that will continue. 

Yes you could lose your money, but you can't lose more than you put in with most good deals.Keep looking, sounds like you are on track.

Don’t lose sight of the long-term by focusing too much on the short-term tenant issue. 

If you try a one month lease they can argue that they are only tenants at will and then you lose almost all your rights.

I personally wouldn't attend it, but if you can just do the day or two class and not give into temptation to pay for the "full course" than I guess you really have nothing to lose.

All real estate is local so you need to attend local REIA meetings, any investor meetings you can find on MeetUp.com, local landlord association meetings.This is where you will learn who the players are in your area, how they find deals, how to estimate repairs, how to negotiate with sellers, which attorneys they use, which contractors, where they find deals.And finding buyers when you have a true deal is so easy.

Doing business with friends is often a good way to lose friends! 

That happened in the crash because EVERYONE was short selling and banks were losing their butts. 

Like a poker player who folds most hands, it's not unusual for an investor to look at many hundreds of houses for every one he buys.