The RE portfolio in my opinion is safer and allows me to have more control.

But the military puts more stresses on us when we have to deploy and worry about an asset sitting here that we can't control ourselves.  

The buyer slides the pile of cash across the table along with all the opportunities that go along with controlling such a large sum of money.The deal closes, but just before it does, the sticks his greedy, sweaty hands into the pile of cash and extracts a measly 2.5% of highly taxable earned income.

I also started on this venture late in life.  

I'm new to real estate investing and have been reading books, forums, webinars, etc.I've made up my mind to buy my first property in 2016Even though a lot of people would say I'm in the least desirable place for this venture, I know there are ways to make it happen.Looking forward to learning from each other (I'll be learning a lot from you first) and continuing with this noble and patient road to wealth creation.

Depending on location, foreclosure time frame, market values, and condition of the property, you can often pick up NPN’s and control the underlying real estate at a steep discount.

You have very little control over these new residents who despite not being on the lease....are tenants because they lived there for 30-days and recieve mail there. 

There are plenty of owners from your neck of the woods that venture out to Bpt as owners and investors.  

I don't want to tell everybody of this venture I'm doing only to have it all go down the drain and make me look like a failure to my friends, family, and colleagues.

Looking to venture into this field, but really need to do some research.