But that is a great avenue to get your foot in the door with some multis.

In other words, if I'm going to buy and hold a property right now, are the "standard" rental evaluation calculations (50% rule, etc) robust enough survive a major market downturn?

It's not much to most but there's a lot of ways to use that 20 grand to get my foot in the door.

You definitely have a good foot in the door with that under your belt.Good luck on your RE License exam!

I've got two great places for you to check out here on the site:The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate InvestingandHow to Start Investing In Real Estate at a Young AgeThose should help you get going on the right foot!

Hopefully those will help you get started on the right foot!

There are areas I would invest in but would prefer not to live, and then there are areas I would never set foot in...

You might have better luck if you pay the title agent to run the title report and that way you can get your foot in the door and believe me the title agent has heard that before if you run this search, I will use you on my deals.

It's so much harder to put your foot down and it usually destroys the relationship.

Since everyone is addressing the basement (and yes the area will sell for less per square foot than above grade and actually is not considered above grade square footage unless 3 of the 4 walls are exposed), I will talk about the attic.Attic square footage is calculated not from the outside walls but from the spot where the ceiling is 5' from the floor.Another consideration is that you should have a ratio of 1 bathroom for every 2 bedrooms in order to get the best market value.