Looks like your flip was near my childhood home actually.

@David Dachtera if you were to market your childhood home, would you call it a 2 bedroom? 

Two hours later, list in hand I retire to my motel, call my bride and start giving her a list of what to bring up, tool wise etc.

We spend 3 months, twice a year in Florida and 3 months, twice a year in the Republic of Panama near my wife's child hood home.

I am self employed as an early childhood educator and my goal is to generate income from real estate that surpasses my current income so I can go full time in real estate.

I'm currently a doctoral student in Early Childhood Education at Portland State University.  

Hi All -I'm looking for some guidance on options for my parent's house/my childhood home (I'm a newbie, so trying to think through if an opportunity exists here or if the NOVA/Washington DC market just isn't realistic for this sort of thing).

The people here will help you, but YOU have got to ask the right questions and YOU have got to take the right ACTIONS.Your childhood is not the problem.Your finances are not the problem.Whether you have patience could be a problem -- it may well take you 5-7 years to begin to get where you want to go, and that's if you work really, really hard at it.You can do it, but it is YOU that has to do it -- no excuses and no sympathy.Good luck!

I'm trying to make some preliminary decisions on where to buy and hold, and here are my options:Invest in current city, lived in area 10 years, expensive, but have awareness of jobs, neighborhoods, etc.Invest in childhood state, lived there 20 years, cheaper, comfortable to meInvest in a location I want to live in, no experience, must learn entire marketI would imagine many people are/have been in a similar timeline in their lives.

Hey TJ:It's a small world, I actually spent a good chunk of my childhood living in that subdivision.You assumed correct, I am charging myself rent to assess the actual performance of the property.