And if every piece of your portfolio... stocks, bonds, Real estate, commodities ect. are all performing, then you are either a genius, lucky or just not properly diversified. 

I live in Greenville, South Carolina and I am looking to purchase a piece of property to build a duplex, quadplex or neither.

However, until then, I wouldn't invest in another piece of RE until you're on more solid financial ground. 

And folks are more than ever able to find their own little piece of heaven.  5 acres in MT sounds awful good to me on days :)

@Lisa Talamas , that's like asking, "How long is a piece of string"?. 

I can not answer your question but when looking at property to buy in TN I came upon a situation that may help your situation, depending on where the bodies are.One piece of property had an area that was being divided from the rest of the property at the time I was looking at it. 

@William Kyle Walker, I think you and others have hit on key pieces. 

As long as you have the right expectations.Cash flow is NOT the most important piece of the equation.

I've been working on an outline for a user-friendly, newbie can't screw it up piece of software I'd like to see developed.

It allows me to buy properties in any condition, get them into top notch shape and then find a quality tenant to put on a long term lease.