Hello all,I have been involved in real estate half heartedly for over ten years and i'm finally ready to make Real Estate my life.  

Your plan is ambitious for some people and not ambitious for others...it just depends on how you prioritize it in your life.

The trend is for those who would traditionally be in the "first time home buyers" chapter of life are increasingly opting to rent.

I've worked in the Customer service industry for most of my adult life but I've been interested in real estate for as long as I can remember.  

I applaud you wanting to add value and improve quality of life for tenants...

Primarily at this point, I'm focusing on learning, analyzing a deal, and finding mentors and other like-minded individuals with real life experience (in the area's we are looking to invest specifically, but I'm not opposed to making new friends everywhere!)

Like you as a mortgage underwriter, I have many years of experience being a professional supporting real estate investors as a CPA, but I now wanted to become a real estate investor myself.In late November of last year, like you're doing this November, I wrestled with the question of investing locally with a 4-unit purchased with FHA financing vs. investing out-of-state and got a lot of great advice.Like you, my goal is to retire within the next 10-15 years via real estate investing.As a result of some of the advice I've read through the forums (I would recommend you pay attention to guys who have been in real estate for decades like @Jay Hinrichs rather than the younger folks who are often just pushing their turnkey products) and speaking to investors at local real estate groups, I decided that given my place in life I would be wiser to place my bets on California appreciation over the next 20-30 years rather than investing in some beat-down property in Cleveland for an extra $400 or whatever in cash flow per month.Given the facts that (1) I could get into a property for a measly 3.5% down, which would free up cash to invest in other places if I so chose, (2) I was already throwing away rent every month such that I could still be cash flow negative of $650/month (what I was paying in rent) and still be better off because a portion of my monthly payment would be building my equity and the rest would be tax deductible, and (3) I'm in my 20s and have the time to take a long-term view of appreciation potential, it was a no-brainer to go the FHA 4-plex route in LA, despite the fact that it is one of the most expensive markets in the country.This isn't to say that the process was easy.  

As an insurance agent in my previous life I find most people in the real estate investing business are underinsured and many don't truly understand the purpose of liability coverage.

Also, a lot of it has to do with being emotionally invested, and I definitely am at this point in my life.

I can't put my life on hold any longer, and I always file jointly for taxes with my partner, if that helps.I heard about the 10% witholding, and that it can be avoided if necessary, but I don't know how I'd go about rolling the sale of a UK property to another person in the UK when I think, for a 1031, it has to go via an intermediary who, I'm guessing, is in the US.