So if you sold a property for 100,000 with an adjusted basis of 50,000, and you received 20,000 down, with 5,000 paid principal per year with a 30,000 balloon at the end of ten years. 

My 3 cents adjusted for inflation.

I still think you can find good deals but you have to be patient and you have to adjust to the current reality of the market.  

For example Apartment 1, everyone is gone week days from 8 to 5.At 6:00 am I set the inside temperature to 72 if the outside temp is <= 55At 8:00 am I set the inside temperature to 68 if the outside temp is <= 55 and it's a weekdayAt 4:30 pm I set the inside temperature to 72 if the outside temp is <= 55 and it's a weekdayAt 9:30 pm I set the inside temperature to 63 if the outside temp is <= 55Every 5 minutes I check to see if the thermostat is adjusted greater than 73. 

The special pays such as flight pay, HDP, ID, etc, as well as a percentage of base pay have all gone historically to the TSP, but last year I adjusted the allocations to go primarily into the Roth option.

I'm in agreement with a number of the comments regarding condos and the HOA component; fees can be adjusted and increased significantly depending on what the HOA board decides and above all, you are giving up significant control over your property in my opinion that could limit or make appreciation, resale and exit strategy options less than optimal.A small SFR 3/2 purchased well under market as an REO a number of years ago is where I started and funny enough is still one of the best performing properties in my portfolio.Good luck and congratulations on your decision to invest- above all, lock in your strategy and then execute it.

If one lender chooses an appraisal management company that's a little more expensive than another because they only use smart and experienced appraisers, who isn't to say that ability to extrapolate an adjustment for some unusual feature based on multiple linear regression analysis isn't going to be what saves your deal (you never see that in the report, but I have seen that sort of stuff in the internal back and forth where an appraiser justifies value opinion when questioned)? 

The lease states every year it adjust to the Bay Area CPI San Francisco/San Jose/ Oakland. 

Thanks for the candid intro, your story reminds me of the Doctor in the cash flow game, most people don't like the Doctor but if you play it right and with some adjustments it is easy to win the game...Welcome to BP, this is a great website and resource for all types of real estate investing.I always recommend these 3 things to people beginning in Real Estate Investing:1) Do a lot of research here2) Do not spend a lot of money with coaches, it would be much better to put that money to work and learn from experience, I'm not against coaches or education, but you need to be careful as there are some that are really bad.Here is a seminar that I really liked, unfortunately the next one is in Atlanta and the one after that in Santa Ana CA but in September. http://garyjohnston.com/seminars/financial-freedom...3) There are many real estate clubs out there, visit them, select your favorites and meet other investors working your area.

In bad times, you have unrented homes, or late payers, or issues with the mortgage, or an adjustable rate, etc.