Shop for something you can afford, and if your disciplined and save money every month you could in fact put the wheels in motion for owning your own home.Advise: If you credit is damaged find yourself a good "Partner" and offer them some experience and put some skin in the game... say cash for a down payment  ;) The numbers:2B/1B, 1275 SQFT Huge Detatched 2 car garage.Asking price 100KMarket price 120KWe bid 85K( Someone else bid)Changed our bid to 100KThey countered 102KWe drew a line in the sand and stuck to 100KGot credited 5K+2500K in closing.We settled at 95KPut 10K down and have a 85K loan @ 4.375The house needs 15K in repairs.The location is in the best part of town, has 6 schools in less then 2 miles.

I attribute that to kids starting school.  

Good luck on finishing school and happy investing!

@Michael Sherwood I would love to move back and invest if the rest of my life (wife, job, schooling, etc.) makes it possible.

You need to find out a little information like: employment in that area, school ratings, commute to area that have jobs, potential business/companies coming to the area, and how many properties are rentals to own.  

There are also big employers (Dell) and awesome schools. 

I'm just amazed at the schools of fish that follow these cruisers and the number that bite, even to the extent of inquiring more about some system as if there is some education offered.

@Eduardo Cardena I am a Note School student and have a thread Journey of a New Note Investor where I chronicle my journey.  

My goal is to flip 3 or 4 properties a year and have a net rental income of about 3,000 a month.This website has been great...I hope to use it to its fullest and eventually contribute some of my lessons learned (hopefully they aren't all from the school of hard knocks).Thanks!

. • A stable area in which people desire to live and have good schools. • Overall state population growth.If you limit your search to any single geographical area you are unlikely to find such properties.