Start with SFRs and cut your teeth there. 

The main reason for this is because I don't think the current stock/bond/sovereign debt markets are sustainable for much longer and real estate has deflated just enough for me to become more comfortable with it.

But if a contractor is contracting for work that they are not licensed to do then you do not need to pay them and you have a claim against their bond for liabilities they have left you with.

Such investments will probably exceed the yield on 15 yr. muni bonds or the market.....Instead of writeoffs, they will take depreciation and carry the asset, just as investors do.

In fact, I told my broker last week, this is a distressed property without a distressed price tag.But you are exactly hitting on my two big reservations: 1) overvalued relative to age/condition and rent roll, and maintenance problems, 2) and this is probably a bad way to cut my teeth...too much for first time deal.It's just easy to get blindsided by the apparent, as-is cash flow.

Hi mike, we are using muni revenue bonds to finance projects.

If you can't stomach the thought of making mistakes and losing money, then real estate investing likely isn't in your cards (or really any other type of investing besides maybe CD's or government bonds).What you should focus on is limiting your losses to be significantly less than your gains and learning from your mistakes to gain experience.If you run into road blocks, there are plenty of people on here to offer assistance no matter what direction you go.

I have 4 properties, one is a three bedroomed house (free standing house, bonded), another one is a bachelor flat (bonded), another one empty piece of land (paid up) and a 2  bedroomed house paid up.

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