@Steve Vaughan I think you make a great point and agree that tightening the belt and making sacrifices should be a part of any path forward.

My hometown is effectively a rust belt city. 

@Amina Sanders - Talk to @Justin Eaton

It's good you already have a deal under your belt.

Or, I look at the overall robust economy, the relatively strong housing market, and wonder if I'm entering at a bad time - but then realize that when/if things crash, that'll be another round of changes that provides for opportunity.Opportunity is born from change, and at 42, I'm old enough to know that the secret to doing something is to just get started, and to keep chipping away at it.Anyway, my short term goal, once I have finished doing enough research and working on getting the overall engine in place, is to get a couple deals under my belt, and get an idea of what pieces of my process needs refinement in order to scale up a bit.

I have one rental deal under my belt and am looking for the second.

Now full time in the business with a transaction under my belt I'm ready to dive back in deep to growing my investment knowledge. 

I'm a new investor (zero deals under my belt) and am looking to get rolling with my real estate investing business. 

I also find that 60% is closer to actual value of expenses in my local areas - after you get a few properties under your belt, you can find what percentage works for you.3.

I’m not very new to REI but have a couple rehabs under my belt so If you would like to chat Just PM me.