Pay off your car, your credit cards, and any other consumer loans. 

Not sure why a 1500 sq ft house could consume that much.

I've been consumed with this website for the past few days soaking in as much information as I can.  

They are very time consuming and are by no means easy to pull off.

-theoretically,  you could have 8 units after 1 year, all with 3.5% down and with a low, consumer based interest rate.looking back, I wish I could have scrapped together the cash to avoid fha fees, but it got me started in re investing so I am glad I did it... hope this helps!

I'd send them a gift basket with a $50 HD gift card and thank them for being a good tenant.I have a tenant that refer their friends to me and I have great tenant that needs to downsize and I'm trying to fine her a home she can afford.Turnover is expensive, time consuming and a waste of time.Good Luck

I could just try and bring out my own contractors for each possible repair but this would be a very time consuming and ineffecient way to get a repair cost and I don't want to waste a contractors time for homes that I might not even get an offer accepted on.  

The more I consume on BP, and the more articles / books I read, it looks to me like investing in real estate is more line with what my wife and I want out of our cash.

Don't know if links are allowed, but here is the link to the Georgia Landlord Tenant Handbook. 

In MA with commercial leases often times we tie the increase to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).