A lot of the problems with the current housing meltdown came about by people who, like politicians thought they could "spend themselves rich".Without knowing any of your specific numbers let me throw out some to try to approximate where you are.

I had myself so busy doing other things that this detail, slipped by and now I an scrambling.

I spend days pulling 3 prongs outlets and installing 2 prongs on rehabs.

Know what you want done in detail and how much you’d like to spend.

Another way to spend the $10,000 is on interior upgrades, eg.

Also, sometimes questions don't get answered on here...I'm ok with spending money on education as long as I know they are legitimate and solid courses/tools.

Books are great to get you motivated enough to take action, but respect that this is a profession that people spend years perfecting.The best way to learn on a deal is to go in as a minor partner (put in your $20k or offer to do the property management) and then learn everything you can.

If you can't control the spending, more income doesn't help a bit.The New York Times ran a piece last week talking about how painful a $500K salary cap would be to the NY bankers.

For example, if you have $100K to spend on real estate.

You can buy one dirt cheap on e-bay if you don't want to spend the money for a new one.