Goal: Now that I have a job, I'd like to invest in California (parents are here and my job) / Western Washington since I still travel there for friend purposes. 

I'm in OKC but travel around a lot. 

One guy has 2 German Shepherds; its a relatively small place with a small yard, he travels and would have a roomate stay with him, in a band and has a lot of musical equipment, etc... and the other couple asked me about house parties, smoking, and how many people I would allow to say in the house at any given time. 

The type of insurance brokers that don't try to quote you interior coverage, or the type of mortgage brokers that don't freak out when you tell them that the house is not habitable.

I prefer closing by mail as I am not always able to travel.

I'll be taking a travel assignment first (13-weeks), so that we can feel out the area and determine if that is where God would have us to live.

If I would see any chance to invest within driving distance I would stick to that.How much would I pay myself for travel for a showing or to meet a contractor?

Hi all,New Real Estate investor here in the process of starting out.I know that once I own a property any operating expenses, travel etc. are tax deductible but does anyone have any insight into collecting receipts for business meetings and recording mileage relating to starting up investing and buying a first property?

I basically slapped paint on everything and made it habitable to get a tenant in there. 

I wouldn't get in the habit of reading >1 "motivational/business hacking/etc" book every 1 or 2 months minimum.