I have some start-up capital to make the initial acquisitions feasible in that market.

My initial thought to this line of reasoning is that if renters are a dime a dozen, as you describe, there is little incentive for landlords to lower rent.

Disadvantage, it will be my first home that I OWN..The meat - 3 family - 2462 SF - Purchase price $300,000 (in discussion w/owner)Unit 1- 3bdrm plus art gallery - $1400/MoUnit 2 - 2bd - $1100/MoUnit 3 - 1bd - $900/MoTotal (conservative rents) = $3400/MoProperty is recently vacant, in decent shape (out-dated) nothing major needed ASAP, I would look to do minor cosmetic upgrades to be a "higher standard" rental unit at competitive market rate.2nd Property - Single Family 3,000 SF 5 bdrms - 2 kitchens (possible multi conversion) - Purchase Price $280,000 (in discussion w/owner)Quiet Dead end street in nice neighborhood, large backyard w/greenhouse-ARV - $425-$450,000Assessed $440,000..Initial walk through property needs new roof, and may have mold issue.

So if the note holder wants to foreclose solely on the breach of DOS, then the clerk of court in a Deed of Trust state will verify the breach and the foreclosure will proceed.

I was actually taken aback at the price initially, but I digress.I wanted to ask you all if any of you have kept a full time job while still investing in real estate.

Regarding what Kevin Dickson and Joe Fairless have said, verifying the law can be difficult.

Is the lender ever initially involved with this decision?

Trust but verify

Was hoping to pick up a foreclosed property that could use a little work and hopefully save some $ (I am a bit of a handyman) as a primary residence and then hopefully look at another property a little while later (6-12 months) as an investment or turn the initial purchase into a rental at that same time frame.I called the REO/foreclosure departments of a couple different major banks and they said that ALL of these types of properties can only be purchased from the realtors.Is this true?

Work out some numbers, calculate what your initial and monthly costs would be on your typical HML or private money loan, then you know what your costs are.