It is a balancing act for sure...Severna Park - we have relatives there...and I recall they have a basement as well...nothing like that to worry about here in TX fortunately!

He decided to sit on Santa's lap. 

I'm not sure how old you are but you must recall college life, particularly off campus living. just a few concerns:  furnished units have to be covered on your insurance which will effect your premium.you gotta be mindful of damages to the furniture in addition to the rest of the place. not everyone will havesticky fingers but be prepared for the occasional theft during transition at the student occupied units. the bedbug epidemic comes into play particular with the more traffic. again, its my coin. feel free to disagree.kudos,Mary

If you ever want to sit down for a coffee or a beer, just let me know! 

This listing history just didn’t sit well with me.

And also know that throwing lowball offers is one thing, but, again, save everyone's time by making sure to only do that on deals that have been sitting a long time (in my market, I give it 30+ days).  

Next it is just sitting down and following that plan to the best of your ability until you have reached your goal.

I own one property (single-family, currently living-in as my home) and have an untapped VA loan just sitting there worth $400,000. 

@Mitchell Chingay, it's impossible to predict when markets will have a crash like event and @Erik Whiting is an example of how expensive it would have been for him to sit on the sidelines waiting for a crash to happen.

Your money sits on the sidelines for a long time until a good opportunity comes around.