Just gotta remember the end goal and keep pushing through.I see it mostly as fear of the unknown, really.

In case my question is off topic and takes the thread off track, I started a new one here to discuss having a "safe" portfolio moving into the great unknown.

owning a home to live in is the foundation of the US real estate market and frequently unspoken or unknown is that 35 to 40% of folks own their own homes free and clear..

The severity is unknown.

But 3 years seems excessiveRegarding an unknown health expense, that's exactly what a heloc or line of credit would be great for if it was above a 6 month living expenses amount

You can't "know" until you have a solid understanding of how the numbers work (surface) and how the potentially unforeseen/unknown factors (subsurface) impact those numbers.

Biker buddies would actually be the best solution for this, unknown to you of course:).

If I were buying my very first investment property and looking to become a RE investor long term as a wealth building strategy, there's no way I'd buy in an unknown area and try to "build a team" to run my business.   

As long as there is no large unknowns/risks (renovation done right, no title issues, not built on ancient burial site) I would call it a win. 

One book I want to throw out that hasn't been mentioned is Ayn Rand's Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal.