In retrospect I'm embarrassed of what I thought it was, as now that I sit down and think about it, that could have meant tens or maybe hundreds of thousands over the life of a loan.

Many times insured attempt to get a cheaper policy by carving out coverages they need and only realize it in retrospect. 

In the past, 6 months was no problem but doesn't seem to be the case currently.We had the opportunity to snag a pretty good investment property but were scared off by the financial climate/bank lening uncertainty and in retrospect, have some regrets. 

I will be honest that in retrospect I wish I kept more detailed records of work we did- I/we would generally travel for 3-7 day stretches doing anywhere from 6-12 hours of work daily but mostly only logged what activities I worked on w/ each trip and not the hours specifically.

However in retrospect, I would not necessarily recommend this route for a starting investor for a buy/hold strategy.

So in retrospect these at-hand retail cash buyers are great in a way because they are ready and waiting to buy quickly at market value.

I will say in retrospect, had I never taken that plunge, I wouldn't have the confidence I have today to be able to look at opportunities that I may have thought to be too big or risky before.

But what's most important to understand is that, due to the illiquid nature of real estate (even if you're Active it can take a while to sell a property and the market timing might not be right for you to want to do so), once you go down either path (Active or Passive) it's hard to unwind from either position if you decide, in retrospect, that it was the wrong path for you.

I eventually sold the house right before the polar vortex swooped in and stacked snow on the doorstep of every Ohio home and in retrospect I am thankful of that I divested.So what did I learn?

I am wishing in retrospect that I not only had an inspection but also had my contractor view the property in the due diligence period.