@Alex Deacon Your point is a good one, and I haven't had enough interaction witht the agent to have a good feel for what level of service she will provide.  

I've been on the forums now for about a week and have had some great interactions with people and have already learned so much from them. 

They are free, we are not pitching and we are hoping to give new people like yourself a chance to see the possibilities available and interact and connect with active investors.  

If you are not experienced in the contracting industry, I believe you should stick with your plan of buying a home, and renting out rooms or units in the property.Build equity, get hands-on experience, start really learning the business, and get a bit of a sense for how to interact with contractors as you do minor repairs.Plus this way, you keep you W-2 income and the banks love it when you can show steady, consistent salary.

It's a great opportunity to get from behind the screen and shake hands with some of the people you'll interact with on the site. 

Each time I interact with a new tenant for a term I update my lease terms based on the "quirks" I've had to deal with and realized I wish my lease had covered that. 

Ok, now that you have taken your initial step, below are some quick links to get engaged. http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere http://www.biggerpockets.com/ubg http://www.biggerpockets.com/meet Setting up Keyword Alerts How to Use @Mentions on BiggerPockets 25 Tips for Real Estate SuccessREI can be very daunting, but, before you go searching for that 1st buy, please take a few minutes to bone up on the tips in link below.http://www.realestate.com/advice/buying-your-first-investment-property/ However, this site thrives on interactions and as such we encourage two way exchanges and look forward to educational and thought provoking ideas relevant to REI.

I currently manage all of my own places, but have interacted with Icon, HMS, Trident, and AIM.  

Thank you for reading and I look forward to interacting with all of you.

Not just ROI numbers, but timing, ease of execution, learning curve, opportunity to learn hands on/requirement for regular interaction with the project (two sides to the same coin depending on how you look at it) etc.