Hughes told one of his earliest investors, Alaska’s state oil fund, that he imagined the sort of tenants he wanted—families with school-age children—and then went looking for suitable houses in good school districts.Nashville’s foreclosure rate never exceeded 2%, so American Homes approached a local builder, John Maher, who had been renting unsold homes in his subdivisions.

I have set up some pretty specific searches for clients based on areas they want to buy/invest, age and type of homes, features, price, days on market, even types of utility service and such (gas, oil, electric), etc.

That mostly has to do with "tech" but those people are aging fast. 

I stepped out in 1997 at the age of 29 when my kids were 2 and 4 and have never looked back.

We do live in an age where information is at the touch of a button and the school of hard knocks usually prepares you better than a professor could. @ Nick Britton it's good to hear it from someone with first hand experience.

No excuse in this day and age for sure. 

We went through this several years ago when we bought my aging mother an expensive condo with 40% down.The banks were not that friendly as it was NOT going to be our principal residence (but we held title for obvious reasons).So we sat down with an independent mtg broker only to get a mtg from one of the banks that originally denied us???

I wish I would have read these when I was your age. 

I am 5 years into a 30 year 3.75% conventional mortgage on our home in Florida so if I sell the rental property, I will probably apply that equity into my Florida home thus reducing the loan period 12-13 years, I will be age 74/75 and mortgage free.

@Sam GergleyIt is generally best not to touch 401k funds until you reach age 59 1/2 because of the 10% early distribution penalty that applies in addition to state and federal taxes.