I'm kind of obsessed with Real estate overall, and never really realized I should maybe try to do something with that obsession, until now ... so here I am.I'm in the process of trying to learn all I can about the industry (there's a lot of information) but I don't want to get stuck in perpetual student mode (which I'm really good at).

@James Evertson Well James my pricing is not current as I have been out of the industry since 2007.

I'm a technology entrepreneur working in the forest products primary processing industry and also provide technical services to government.

Rent an industrial strength ozone generator from a hardware store and run it in the apartment for a couple of days.Ozone is an unstable molecule that attacks hydrocarbon molecules, breaking them down into harmless substances like carbon dioxide, oxygen and trace amounts of water.Just make sure you follow the precautions and if you overdo it let the apartment air out for a day.

I gradutated from the University of Texas with a BS in Aerospace Engineering and now i work in the Oil and Gas Industry as a consultant.

While I'm new to BiggerPockets, I'm an old soul in the Real Estate Investments Industry.  

As a marketing professional, I've worked in many different industries with start-ups and well established companies.

(This will help you SAVE to get into the game)Inform them why you want such a position and what you know about the industry.

There are deals to be found - I've had some success with courthouse step foreclosures, but generally they make sense for flipping, not buy and hold (after rehab costs), since rents just aren't high enough to satisfy any of the "rules of thumb", be it 1, 2 50%, etc.One of the challenges in NorCal is that too much of the money is derived from few industries, so there is a lot of sensitivity to fluctuations in those areas with resultant impacts to the RE markets.

Especially as VCU continues to expand and we're seeing more industrial and office jobs flood in yearly.