This needs to be mapped out before you leave the house, just like buying a property needs to be mapped out with relation to your goal before you buy.The challenge with asking multiple people What is your best strategy is unless they have a clear understanding of where you are going you will get completely different answers and none of them or all of them can be correct.Take the time to sharpen your mental axe before you take that swing, be as detailed as you can with end destination (What your life looks like in 30 years as a result of owning real estate) and then work it backwards.

As to doing Fix/renovations, there is a relationship to development and would most likely boost your learning curve.If development is your goal, I think that your steepest potential learning curve is to find your way into a party or entity that is doing development work.

Now I'm not saying to vocalize to the contractor that its okay to take the day of because you extended his schedule but mentally for yourself just prepare for the worst.

If you know you are going to unload it in a few years you could also try for an interest only 5/1 ARM or something, which would boost your cashflow but leave you with no equity paydown.

Not half bad.Ultrashort ETFs can boost you up a little bit further past 2, but comes with added volatility.Bond market is precarious these days with terrible rates outside of the high yield market.

The city is pumping money into infrastructure along with a $15M baseball stadium coming to downtown Gastonia along with Loray Mills renovation that has boosted rents.

I guess I'll have to boost the marketing to get things rolling for the new year. 

It is possible to get deals that way, but I find very often the owners are still anchored mentally around their previous listing price.That's why it's much easier to convert an expired listing into a new listing (for yourself) than to get them to come down so much it makes it a workable deal for an investor (usually they would have to come down at least 60-100K minimum for the #s to work for an investor instead of an owner-occupant).Still, I think it's worth a shot, and you'll definitely learn a few things that way.You should consider discussing it with your broker however, as s/he may have thoughts on what you're doing, especially the "cut of the deal" part.

If you have clicked on this post, you have possibly experienced some of the confusion I have and maybe worked through it or had a coach.  First alittle back story.I'm 28 years old investor in Georgia currently looking...

In just a few weeks I have made a ton of mental notes on what to look for in older homes for the next one.