I would actually think that an efficient organization should be measured by economies of scale and, the larger the economy, the lower the taxes need to be in order to provide equivalent government services.None of these countries is going to provide the exact set of services to satisfy any political party in the U.S. because these governments cater to the perceived needs of their people, not Dems or Republicans.

Is there software specific to real estate/flipping, and affordable for those just starting out on a smaller scale?

.* Economies of scale on roof/mechanicals.* One vacancy doesn't create the crime target that the vacant $25K SFR does.* Some tenants don't want yard work, so there is always demand.* Generally have higher gross rent yields (admittedly expenses can be higher due to common utilities and common area mainatenance, offset by economies of scale over time)Once I have 7 or 8 conventionally financed multis (mostly 2 and 3 BR units to avoid transients as much as possible, and to capture large Section 8 allotments), I plan to focus on SFRs for buy-and-hold, using local bank financing.Advantages of SFRs:* Greater rental demand, quicker tenant placement * Longer tenancies typically* Better resale options, including O/O buyers* Tenants pay all utilities, maintains yard* Can rent under lease-option if desired* Less concentration, more diversification* More liquid; if cash needed can sell one houseDoes this seem like a reasonable approach?

Property Management is definitely an economy of scale.

But I think you will enjoy some of the soft benefits of having a retail and rental operation combined: depreciation, other tax benefits, economies of scale in remodeling, multiple exit strategies, volume to maintain agent relationships, etc.

How long and how much effort do you really think it might take to get up a RE Investment Business, from scratch with no experience, to a scale that is large enough to give you this extra freedom that you are seeking?

If you run it as a business, scale it as a business, and automate it, you can build a successful business flipping houses that can bring you the same level of financial independence that owning any business can.Of course, it's not easy to create a successful business (in any industry), but creating a business buying and selling real estate is no harder than creating a business buying and selling any other commodity.

I have been browsing the Forums a little and was looking for some metrics to evaluate and even (to some extent) attempt to predict how a real estate market is doing on a general basis. Here are some metrics I cam up w...

But much of what you see on this board is probably not the REIT type holdings...This community tends to be more small landlords and smaller scale investors... but all kinds chime in..I have blog up on the Classics of Landlord Lit for some ideas on the scale (and most should be free in your library). 

I agree, I've been seeing the urbanization of Tampa, especially with FTH's, even though it's no where near the scale of a NYC or SF.