Cable, phones, food...etc.We were fortunate and made some good money on the two other houses we had when we sold two years ago (houses we had before we met and got married) we wanted a nicer house in a great location to raise our family and found the place that fit and got a great deal on a lot where the owner had to sell.

I am born and raised there, so I am fimiliar with the good and the bad.

And even if you did, it would only happen if they need to raise money, so it would be very difficult to pull off with the timing.So what remains are some of the second-tier sites, which haven't attracted venture funding for one reason or another, but hopefully have something unique or compelling that you feel makes them more worthy of an investment.

I agree that education is key before purchasing the first rental.If conventional financing is not an option for your first property, you could try a strategy that  I have been testing out in my neighborhood.

Have a certified industrial hygienist come in and remove it and provide a certified letter it is mold free (they will do testing) - get the cost of remediation from them and negotiate a lower price because of it

I don't want to spend 40 - 60 hours a week away from my family, while my wife does the same, and others raise our kids.

I will be able to raise any down payment, and I have a great understanding of how to analyze a self storage deal, as my family owns a few of them.My question is, what is the best way to get competitive financing, without a balloon payment?  

my only issue would be that a 6k+ beast would be a major gas guzzler.The Section 179 deduction was raised to $500,000.

In my career so far, I've bought and sold several businesses, and raised circa $80 million for both privately-owned and publicly-listed companies.For years I've been passively involved in Real Estate, renting out a property for decent cash flow, and continuing to educate myself for the "big push" into REI.

Dear BP - I was recently discussing my real estate goals with family over the holiday and another form of raising private money came up.