Appreciation and cash flow (in addition to sale price) are all important factors when it comes time to resale and exit that particular property. 2) what class neighborhoods do you wish to invest in?

I am really trying to figure out how to put in a bid on the Baltimore City tax sale (coming up in May).

Although I am not in your market, I would say this could be worth it if the comparable sales support it.

Listings created by the owners who self-manage are likely to be less formulaic.With regards to opportunities specific to Houston, consider local for sale Facebook groups and classified ads from the local newspapers and websites (perhaps the Houston Chronicle and the Houston Press have relevant listings).

Most investors I talk to focus too much on discounting the sales price to squeeze as much as they can from a seller. 

My wife has 14 contracts going / started in the last 3 to 4 weeks.. for a cool 10,500,000 in sales volume.. on top of 6 sales for another 4.5 million and then  3 other sales of homes to buy our homes that total about 2 mil.

Look at your monthly payment (PITI = Principal,Interest, Taxes, Insurance) + HOA + (other maintenance fees if any) and if this amount is less than what you charge for rent (whether its Long, Mid, or Short Term rentals) and you are happy with the positive cash flow, then yes.Or maybe you're breaking even with the condo but you have  knowledge that the condo will explode in value due to some business/attraction/law/policy that will prop-up the sales price in the near future, then yes.Really, it boils down to what your goals are for this first investment.

I have been growing the real estate sales side of my business over the last few years and am looking to spend a little bit more time on the investing side in the coming years. 

Drug sales on property7.

Purchase price: $225,000 Cash invested: $20,000 Sale price: $280,000 I purchased this property as a subto with the intention of doing a fix/flip.