@Will Rodriguez I'm from the Chicago Burbs, so I won't have much weight to my input, but I would caution you to actually come take a look as Chicago's neighborhoods are really block by block on what's a D/C to a B/A neighborhood in some areas.From what I can see, you don't want to just use Trulia / similiar macro statistics if you're looking at properties, because in some areas if you're literally on the wrong side of the street, you're in the 'bad' part of town.Crime in general seems to be heavily gang related and most places that I've driven through you won't have to worry, but then again I don't live in the city and the parts of town that I travel to aren't sketchy.

They were told to use pins and showed them how, a straight pin or several at an angle can hold alot of weight and if a heavier item needed to be hung they could use the adhesive type hangers which did give a paint problem usually.

I am in that business and I really hate it when a property sits on the market because I know I am losing value every day.I expect 2011 to continue to witness a gradual decline in prices, with a possible stabilization in 2012, followed, hopefully, by a mild recovery.

While I would NOT recommend Rich Dad education to anyone, I'm thankful I experienced RD because it was a stepping stone that led to me to the program I'm currently in - which is worth its weight in gold.

As @Tim Joyce stated it has some protections for you but you need to weight those vs the protection you get from a good personal umbrella policy. 

But I listen to their podcasts almosts every day.Their basic principles seem to be pretty good - 3bdrm, 2bath homesin middle class price range.What I think you'll gain though is well worth the annual membership fee - networking opportunities, special pricing from approved vendors, etc.And the free phone calls are worth their weight in gold for an investor starting out.

But in the bright shiny objects space of the market that flavor of inventory is tight and projected to be gradually less tight.Mortgage lenders have become pretty sophisticated to prevent sweeping foreclosure apocalypses like what has happened in the past, particularly in how careful they have been in lending practices and how they offer alternative solutions to foreclosure for those facing "temporary" inabilities to pay. 

For me, it adds weight to the answer that is being formulated in the post.

The appraiser can place all emphasis on just one approach to value, or give weight to both. 

I assume you started small and continued flipping properties gradually increasing your wealth.