Also I have heard from other RE investors that the degree does not offer much practical knowledge for an investor.

Thanks mike,I am hoping to be able to do the real estate investing thing full time within the next ten years.That is my date of departure from the working class.By the way I love you saying after your signature.Wish more people practiced that.Barry

Now, that said, the only way that would be the case is if:1) the seller didn't know how to determine the value of his property, and was ripping himself off;2) you had the ability to reduce expenses to a point where very few owners can; or3) the seller is extremely motivated for some reason and is willing to practically give away his property.I'm guessing it's none of these, and that you are actually being too conservative in your pro-forma estimates.

Put the properties under contract using an "Option Contract", versus an actual Purchase Contract.NOTE: From another forum I'm a member of, I hear using an OC is pretty standard practice, as most Title Companies are familiar with these...plus they also get around any 'seasoning' issues that some lenders might require.C.

Based on sound lending practices, the median home price today should be around 135,000, but it is currently 206,200 according to the NAR.

Appreciation and debt reduction aren't going to improve your cash flow one penny in the next 7 or 10 years.

A shop can give you many added capabilities, improving the quality of routine tasks and equipment maintenance, as well as potentially enabling bulk purchases, or even taking advantage of "rack" programs by local suppliers.

(The company assisted real estate investors with coaching services, property leads, financing, credit score improvement, etc.).

i have seen nothing but wasted money from email lists. firstly, ESPs are becoming very stringent about spam, making the inbox a near impossible place to reach.secondly, email harvesters tend to use spammy practices that make your list of x,000 become more like x0 of actual valid email addressesthirdly, people on these lists by permission are rarely interested in the offer, and more about the incentives offered. and the ones that are on without their knowledge rarely respond to offers and are more likely to report you as SPAM and never use your services.if you are offering a valuable service, another approach would be to speak with landlord associations and try to arrange to be a speaker at one of their networking events, or to have your contact send your email to their members.

That's true.But top earning real estate investors don't (usually never) wait for appreciation.Big RE profits are based on improvements, buying at discount, best use, selling at premiums and other profit possibilities.The graph of Growth of Stock vs. real estate doesn't apply toRE investors that don't prefer the "wait and hope" 'technique'.The graph of Growth of Stock vs. real estate does apply tolong term holders.