The contribution portion of your Roth account is a decent back-up to a cash emergency fund, which you need in life generally and definitely if you want to be a real estate investor.

Hey Rob,You will be hard pressed to find duplexes, triplexes or a fourplex in Toledo in a decent area at a solid price.After buying hundreds of properties over the years, those types of deals are a dime a dozenFor whatever reason they hold their value and not many folks are willing to sell at a discount.I suggest not investing in lower class assets from afar as it's just too volatile.The paper numbers look great but real life is a different storyMuch success

We actually used to have staff visit all properties of interest in tennessee and Mississippi and do photos and a proper condition report.

I'm 24 years old and think I'll be self employed for the rest of my life and want to finally start preparing for retirement.

The best coverage you can get for a vacant home in such a condition would be a DP1 policy which provides you with the most basic form of insurance coverage.

Long partnerships tend to get messy when each party has different situations arise in life

Life is a journey and this one seems to be a great one. 

In my situation there are family members helping and there are programs that can help people with serious medical conditions get the assistance they need.Don't jump the gun.

@Crystal Em - thanks for sharing these pics; I feel like this would be a good option if the existing surround were in good condition and didn't need to be replaced. 

It's barely NOW showing signs of life.I would love to have the owner finance the property for me, however, I haven't asked yet because I just assumed since the gentlemen is in the later stages of his life, he wouldn't want to carry a loan and would prefer the cash up front.