In particular, is that issue one that will so directly impact the landlord's cash flow such as high and continuing special assessments, stuborness over minimal cosmetic issues (lawns, landscaping)?

I will 1. determine if Obama's second wave of housing programs relieves my negative equity (within the next 90 days details will be public enough to understand/verify)2. pursue the best avenue to default on the 2nd lien and have it removed from the home's debt (upon determining that no program will help reduce principal for me, whihc is my prediction, due to the fact that, technically, I CAN pay, and others, who can not, will come first, understandably) 3. continue work on packaging consultant services and creating unique materials to support those services that produce minimal additonal income now and yet pave expanded professional earning and freedom opportunities for the future4. complete my doctoral degree to enhance cerdibility in my field and improve marketability of consultanc in futureI have written similar question/posts before but they were not titled "Wisdom" reading other posts on this forum made me think of that title - hmmmm...you DO "get what you ask for" after all.

You want to try to minimize your "cost" of education as much as possible.

Keep snowballing the cash like that and buying property outright and before long you'll have a hell of a cashflow situation with minimal risk and still have real estate apprecation on your side.

Steve --Similarly I was looking toward making all-cash offers on REOs using a HELOC on another investment property I have, then rolling into permanent financing after fix-up and tenant lease in place.I haven't done this before and was looking for some guidance on the financing ins/outs of the cash-to-refi approach, seasoning periods to be concerned about, minimizing closing costs from transacting twice (title work comes to mind).

So do everything in your power to minimize those times by putting together compelling, ironclad documentation.

I do like the idea of paying upfront to minimize unknown, reoccurring expenses.

State real estate license requirements differ slightly from state to state, but all usually require that an applicant complete a minimal amount of real estate education, submit an application to the state real estate governing organization, and pass a written examination.

Completely agree with Mark...I've been using Quickbooks for my businesses for a long time, but have always used Quicken for my personal accounts and real estate businesses.But now I'm in the same boat you are, Jackie...I'm in the process of moving several years of real estate data over to QB as well...While I'm comfortable with QB, I've decided to just let my CPA do the conversion in the way he wants -- that will minimize the amount of work he'll need to do at tax time, which is ultimately that's what's going to save the most money...

-Poor Credit is fine (so far) as downpayment has helped minimize risk of forfeiture.