Many of us who have been around for a long time kind of play off each other in forums to help the flow of the conversation.

Far too many I have seen go many years with no retirement and then try to play catch up. 

You keep the note in play and you do a second . 

Lacey asked for $20K for furnishings and another $10K to convert the garage to a play room and add a pool heater.

- and finally once you do this, realize it will never even be close to how it actually plays out in real life, but it can serve as a guide for what sort of money you may need to save up to try and actually accomplish something like this.

So it isn't a complete waste, you would simply need to follow the strict reading of the law with no private clauses for consideration...I'm not sure how that plays out since technically if the lease is void, so is the tenancy meaning you could terminate anytime and not wait for the original lease expiration...I'm sure that's covered somewhere, but again I'd ask my local atty what to do given this is such a locally specific issue. 

Focus on Cash Flow Early On:While appreciation is the long-term play, as a beginner, I'd recommend focusing on cash-flowing properties to provide you with a safety net and help you ride out any market fluctuations.

The cost of living and cost of replacing are getting harder with more extreme events.Cost of electricity and cost + availability of water will also start to play even larger roles than they do today, especially in hotter states.

Many play "dumb" (but is it playing?)

Compare investing to basketball.