We bough a short sale few years ago and that time our agent was very cautious we don't pay our EM before bank accepts offer.

@Jennifer Cheu I would be very cautious about what your realtor said.

We basically just extrapolated from there to figure out how much debt we wanted to take on, which resulted in looking for tris or quads.I actually have the pre-approval copy/confirmation, so while you are correct about being cautious, in this case, it just-so-happened to work out.

You should take a cautious approach and get more information.For a property like this, you definitely need sales comparables.  

Also be cautious using credit cards due to the high interest rates. 

Is there anything to be cautious about when approaching the owner?

We are feeling a bit cautious going into debt (we followed Dave Ramsey to get out of debt); however, we believe real estate will be a great investment.I'm excited to read and learn from this community!

I don't know the mothers condition in the old person home and am cautious about contacting her directly for ethical reasons.

I've always been a big saver by habit, but these last few years I've spent a lot of time reading and learning about personal finance, which has led me to up my 401k contributions and invest most of my net worth into stock index funds tracking the market.I subscribed to Audible earlier this year and came across Brandon Turner's "The book on rental property investing" audiobook a few months ago which has, in addition to getting a few laughs out of me, strongly convinced me that real estate belongs in my portfolio.I'm an extremely cautious person by nature which is why I'm hesitant to jump into into real estate right away.

Personally I'm open to living in neighborhoods that are a bit rough around the edges, but of course would make lifestyle adjustments in being cautious coming and going, such as taking a cab at night rather than walking around.