There are some unique ways to make money here in Central Florida.

I guess what I am saying is look for a combination of your two options.

Much of the advice I read says the best way to start investing is to live in your first home so that you can go FHA, making it a little easier to get started (lower down payment).My situation is unique in that my boyfriend just bought a house and I am living there with him, so purchasing and living in my own investment property full-time is not an option.

There are literally thousands of combinations of keywords you could target.

Nicky,I just bought a house here in Colorado and the list of information and paperwork that the lender required was quite extensive.My position was unique however since I did not live in the US at the time (and had not lived in the US for 26 years).They checked my credit, my work history, wanted 2 years of tax returns, pay stubs for the last two months from my job.

If you hire someone to do your landscape - mowing the lawn, prune trees etc... on a monthly basis, you might want to drop by once every 2-3 months to make sure the lawn maintenance work is satisfactory.I suggest you personally go change the air conditioning filter every 30-45 days.These two combined should give you a good excuse to stop in to inspect your property without them feeling like you are watching them.Add to that the occasional need to go pick up mail (in case not everything is forwarded or changed), as well as actual repair work...you have plenty of opportunity to go inside without any specifically scheduled "inspections".I tell all my tenants up front I will come by every month to change AC filters, bleach the condensate line, throw some ice and lemon peels into the disposer.

Doing like this is unique and creative way of getting people on your team.

It's a combination of cost, demand and also the required software to integrate.

http://shop.illinoisrealtor.org/catalog/pre-license/broker-option-1-75-hour-pre-license-topics-home-studyThis is what I was leaning towards and then combining that with the 15 hour education that is often offered in a Saturday/Sunday format. 

I refinanced it Jan of this year and combined a loan I took out to completely fix it up.