He lives out of state, has owned the property for about 20 yrs and doesnt want to deal with it anymore, so there is plenty of motivation...The father who showed me the property did some cleaning and some painting because the previous tenant left the place a mess but there is still work that needs to be done.

Ok, I've been through the training (yes, I paid for it and probably too much), now I'm sorting through properties to make my first offer.

They also filed a deficiency judgment, which sometimes gets negotiated away in a short sale.If you're going to pursue this sort of deal, do not focus on one property.

It's probably worth while sitting down with a designer of some sorts that can look at what's existing.

They are straight pass through entities and won't affect your taxes 1 way or the other.In CA, you're sort of screwed either way.

I found a motivated seller on craigslist for a townhouse in my area.

For the record, that is sort of how condo's are suppose to work in most markets.

I agree that she is not being aggressive to market the house, but I think that when a commission is so small, there’s not much motivation.

Interesting article.Personally, I'd steer clear of any sort of funding - there are enough places in Europe (for the gamblers) or Asia (for the growth-oriented) to be able to avoid any sort of debt.

It's election year, the government is intent on passing through some sort of tax the rich, which in turn could raise the value of the dollar a little bit.