Originally posted by @Christian Carson:The discussion of wages influencing rents is absolutely fascinating to me.

I was able to get traditional long term financing which puts me in a cash flow situation.  

Hello, I have a questions regarding private investors opposed to getting financing through a traditional lender.

Remember, we are "creative real estate investors" that is why we don't use traditional financing.

That's the traditional way to acquire property.

While looking for those sellers, you will probably come across some who are more ripe for a shortsale or even traditional listing at retail that you can refer to your realtor friend.

There are a couple of threads about Michigan laws (closing requirements / restrictions, etc) and I'm curious if you've been successful with any "traditional" wholesaling methods.

Hopefully in the future the trend will turn to more traditional sales in the area and I can try to sell then.

He also discusses a few important topics not covered in most other financial books: how military pensions work, the actual value of a military pension, TRICARE, how you can use the Thrift Savings Plan, using real estate to further your goals, and even joining the Guard or Reserves instead of doing a traditional 20 year active duty tour.

Esentially it boils down to evalutating what is truely important to you, then being open to alternatives to the "traditional american consumption based lifestyle".