The only way to avoid losing your money is 1. not invest it, or 2. only invest it from dealing in a good entrepreneurial manner, eliminating and managing risks to an acceptable level.

Also what zipcodes should I avoid in anyones opinion?

mother-in-law, mother-daughter, jack-and-jill, 'Summer Kitchen' and/or maid's quarters yada yada  - as many mansions and other estates traditionally do -  if its a SFD that means per code/ordinances etc u cant rent separate tent dwelling/apartments within it - only maybe a room or so.thats why instead, large SFDs with a duplex layout (or maybe even a 'back house') to spare will 'rent out a room' to avoid grossly breaking zoning and C of O rules for a single fam dwelling. of course that means either the kitchen is inherently shared or one of the persons (ie, a college student, or a raw vegan) simply does not need access to a traditional kitchen whatsoever.

If the girls are big partiers, then they should be smart enough to look elsewhere ... to avoid an eviction.

What areas would we want to avoid in Fort Worth? 

you "may" be able to avoid "some" tax if you go the corp route by paying yourself a salary. doing 1 or 2 flips a year would probably not constitute a salary though. if you have a day job, and do 1 flip a year, you still gotta pay the federal, state, and BOTH sides of the SE tax.for me, that came to around 44%. but I want to pay taxes. means I meant $.put it to you this way - at your day job, you're probably paying around 37% in taxes. you just don't notice it as much as it comes out of your paycheck each week.

If you can avoid this entirely, why not?

You will learn and earn, and avoid the pitfalls cited earlier in this reply post.

I'd second @Justin Kane on networking (and avoiding expensive programs).

I want to avoid California, and states where real estate is super expensive, and states that have laws that aren't conducive to this kind of business.