I find it interesting how at first real estate investing and therapy seem to have little to nothing in common, but as you go along you quickly realize how important those people skills, active listening, rapport building, etc. become, especially if you find yourself interacting with homeowners in trouble with things like financial stress, marital issues, loss of a spouse, fear of homelessness...

You won't find them in today's market, so I wouldn't stress.

I hope to sue the association for all the stress that I am experiencing from this.

This is going to be our first investment property so we're trying to make it as stress-free as possible.

I spent much more time in preparation and analyzing markets than I have after actually acquiring it, since I have a good contractor and manager in place who absorb most of the stress on my behalf.

After thinking about your situation more (and not being able to find the edit button for my post-- is that feature gone now?)

Finally, I could also be opened to invest in other areas with good turnkey operations.Thanks for sharing your experiences.Alejandro Hi Alejandro,I once invested in US property from afar and know of many fellow Australians that still do so.I always stress to be patient and conduct more due diligence on the people you are looking at doing business with over the actual stats and demographics of a particular area.Also, please feel free to look into some states in the Midwest.

Literally, the stress will kill you.   

I'm a journalist-and getting loans isn't the easiest, that's why I am more stressed about using this loan-right-this time. 

Then you just mention what you do when the questions roll in, stress that you're there to improve the community, then ask: "By the way, do you know of any distressed properties around?"