: In my personal opinion and speaking with a professor of mine who has worked in international banking all his life, thinks interest rates will be raised in December.

I am anxious to get started NOW rather than later because of internal fears of if I don't do anything now, will I ever do anything ever.

Right on @Mike Buckley--precisely what's happening down here.  60% of all sales in Monroe County (Florida Keys) are international cash buys.  

This will give you some information to get you started as the other code editions will be similar.2012 International Residential CodeSECTION R310 EMERGENCY ESCAPE AND RESCUE OPENINGSR310.1 Emergency escape and rescue required.

I am going to use an online rental payment system which only allows rent to be pain in full, internally on their side they can divide the rent into 25%/25%/25%/25% but it will not be sent and paid until it is at 100%.

I would get out and talk to full time real estate professionals and inquire about shadowing them and possibly interning with them if you see something that really interests you.It will broaden your horizons and let you see what all makes up the real estate industry.The more people you talk to the better off you'll be.

We have all witnessed that during the last financial crisis.HOWEVER, some of you may not have seen the drop in your Rents.AND some of us who are in Appreciating Markets may not have seen a drop in our Values.BUT, as @Jay Hinrichs and @Russell Brazil and Dan Mahoney mentioned, Cashflow and Appreciation are just inputs to a more comprehensive calculation, normally called an Internal Rate of Return (IRR). 

There was one college student who worked with me somewhat as an intern.

Migration data from the Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, show that as of tax year 2014, the average income of taxpayers leaving Illinois was $77,000 per year compared to an average income of $57,000 per year for those moving into Illinois.

In addition to rehabbing, my wife and I have another priority:  international travel.We use a combination of cards to maximize travel points to redeem for airline tickets, hotel rooms and rental cars.For the business, I use a Chase Ink card.