they are a non accredited pay to play orginization.. while they do some nice meet ups and have basic info.. does not mean that any lender that pays to be a member is a better lender than the thousands of us that are not members..

BTW, I am not disputing you, just playing devil's advocate and wanting someone to challenge my thinking. 

Research led me to a couple of videos of former ND players coming back to build development into the area.

Some people seem to get locked in to one place they find, or a place a friend or family member is selling without really evaluating the available market.In a small town in East Texas I would think your biggest risk is a big player coming to town that can absolutely crush a smaller player. 

@Eric E.UBIT only comes into play in an IRA on leveraged real estate and running an active business.

This is a very different space than most folks here on BP play in from what I have seen.

.: I always play it by ear.

I know real estate is a long term play but you never know when you'll need access to that capital.There are turnkey companies out there that handle the entire process for you from top to bottom so it makes for an extremely passive investment.

Submitting real offers that you feel confident actually closing on and having a strong sponsor to work with that has a track record will go much further towards you winning deals.In short, you can pursue larger deals right out of the gate if you want to, but generally expect that it'll take you longer to win one and make sure you have the right players on your team so that you're prepared to win them and to close them once you do.

Talk to a CPA to see how each scenario plays out.A 401K continues to grow in value, but what do you live on?