Their debt of $180,000 far exceeds their income $55,000 yet these transactions occur every day.On a national level, the total amount of goods and services produced and consumed in this country amount to close to $14 TRillion.

If you succeed you will like it and stay in for long term -- Some comments by Laura are good.I am engineer - and had four ( 4) rental homes --for over 18 years while still working full time --Consider as Busienss not just investment --this is not stock which you can buy and sell at any time --yes-some times confusing, frustrating and time consuming --My best suggestion is buy a single family home -- best time to buy now --bank foreclosures-- if you have a college or hospital near by -- buy a 3 or 4 bedroom house and rent to three --students or female nurses ( single) -- find local students or young kids to cut grass and have a lawn service to spray checmicals --get an older retiree for minor repairs and maintenance --and dont be greedy --keep tenants happy -- buy hosue --around $50,000 cash --which should be $80,000 to$100,000 current retail value - do some homework on pricing -Refinance the hosue after 12 months --get cash back and buy another -- if you buy one house every year or every two years and let tenants pay for mortgage --you ahev five hosues in tenyears and get paid in next ten years --you will have over $1 million net worth--all paid for Free and Clear Five hosues-- for retiring in 20 years or early --you do not need cash flow now --keep the job if you like the job -- good luck

I haven't done this before, but am interested in learning, so I'm leaning towards giving it a go myself to start and falling back on a manager if it becomes too time consuming or annoying.2) Common fixesIs there anything I should fix, or make more resilient before renting?

I have been a Contractor for over 30 years and it is often hard to explain to consumers that the unlicensed and uninsured are not the good deal that they seem.

AddressesOther Address: Address: SALISBURY, NC, 28146CasesCase Number: Appealed From Lower Court: NoCounty: MECKLENBURG,,,,Type: CRIMINAL DISTRICT COURTChargesNumber: Tracking Incident Suffix: ARRAIGNEDDescription: CONSUME ALC BY 19/20Number: Tracking Incident Suffix: ARRAIGNEDDescription: CONSUME ALC BY 19/20Date: 2009-09-04Number: Tracking Incident Suffix: CHARGEDDescription: CONSUME ALC BY 19/20Citation Number:

It is the repair and maintenance activities that can consume considerable time.

The CA Dept of Consumer Affairs addresses the issue of replacement cost:"Suppose a tenant has damaged beyond repair an eight-year-old carpet that had a life expectancy of ten years, and that a replacement carpet of similar quality would cost $1,000.

Locally, we were told last week about a pending matter for exterior paint removal without proper certification or safety measures.Here is the link for the EPA published guide explaining the rule: http://epa.gov/lead/pubs/sbcomplianceguide.pdf Our understanding is that the EPA has spent the last year just catching up, and we are scheduled to be at a conference where the EPA will outline their plans to enforce compliance & educate the consumer to more adequately ensure compliance.

In no time I had a website up eagerly attempting to advertise properties that I didn't own to consumers.

You will have to do a lot of research on how to negotiate with banks, and it would be very time consuming.