A roof over their head is the minimum that people expect from a house, it being dimensional instead of 3 tab doesn't bring a higher price.In our part of the country "energy efficient" windows have about a 25 year payback in energy savings-so do it for your own "livability" factor but not for money.Landscaping-like exterior, adds a lot of curb appeal, one of the reasons we were able to get our house below market-"barn red" paint and 20 years of randomly placed and randomly trimmed shrubs turned many buyers off.

Too many people often get impatient and end up getting in over their heads.

Thanks for jumping in head first and helping others out!

I figured there had to be some more affordable alternative, and some more decent people out there that just want to help rather than make a buck off newbies.The income property analysis tool seems like it could be very useful, but a lot of it is over my head right now.

I am likely to be heading to the area and I might want to drop in on a meeting if there is overlap.John Corey

The first thing you need to do is to understand very well the market, neighborhoods and the property type you will be investing in, their idiosyncrasies, current situation, and dynamics that is where prices and rents are headed (up or down) - if you are going to be investing in what I call "bargain" properties you need a mentor experienced in this type of investing (I am not one of those) because you will encounter many details turns and situations that are not described by books...

Quick calc in my head... this puts you at a $4900/month loss before factoring in tax benefits.

Many of these newbies will buy rental properties and rapidly realize that they are in over their head.

I'm not sure how reliable a preliminary title report from a realtor is but its worth looking into.I'll defenitely check into the county records office and see if I can make heads or tails out of it, if not I figure I can always grease someone's hand their to explain it to me.

I do have a passion for this business and I'm really looking to get a solid head start with the least self-imposed mistakes I can make.