I'm an hvac contractor, we are about the same age, so I feel your pain -- literally.  

Second, financing and insuring is a complete pain.  

This "Reverse" way of thinking is a psychological trick that gets you through all the calls feeling successful.

After doing this for 10 years, I've learned if they are a pain before they even move into the house, they will be a pain the whole time. 

I STILL hear from my coworkers I'm gonna loose everything, my ideas are no good, it's going to be a pain in my backside when I retire.

We had to provide all of the documents above and involve several different people.Newbies, if you don't have a good architect, land use attorney, and a good surveyor, this process will be a lot more painful.

Initially, I liked the idea of keeping this house forever, and it'd be paid off a year before my first kid hits college--easing the pain of the college's financial burden.I've read around that having a lot of equity just sitting in a rental isn't doing much for you.

I feel your pain 100%.

Hubzu can be a pain to deal with as all agents are overseas.

I immediately sought the services of a previous property manager to list the home (I have used him in the past) which he did but it was painfully, terribly frustrating communication with him and it was slow to get things started.