And on many of those, the principle is still outstanding, so until those are paid in full, I won't know my true performance.  

Buying sight unseen can be done but it obviously carries a lot of risk with it.

I consider this a long term investment: possible retirement home for my parents, my first home in 5-7 years to start a family (I am 23 currently), or another investment property after i pay down the principle on the mortgage.

Thanks for all the great podcasts and creating this sight!

Second, the principle was also paid down leaving me several future investment options I'm looking to explore.

The book gave me cause to shift my perspective from a near-sighted "live-only-for-the-moment" mentality to a longer-term, "oh-no-I-might-live-to-the-age-of-60-and-have-nothing" awareness.

I have been using these two sights and have had good luck.   

Its all about the protection it offers and keeping your personal name (and assets) out of sight. 

I now have set my sights on SFHs that have basement living spaces.

But if rents are below market- I would maybe spend the first couple weeks sprucing any thing up a little bit around the park and then raise rents so that they don't feel totally blind sighted I've never seen a security deposit.