Gave me practical experience finding deals (and the tools & techniques involved), working with realtors, lawyers and banks, appraisals, inspections, insurance, property taxes, utilities, closings, HUD statements, etc.Owning a home gave me more practical experience in basic to moderate home repair, dealing with contractors for more complicated issues, capital improvements, insurance claims, "neighbor relations", and many more important aspects involved with owning property.But in addition to buying and owning my own home, I'll say what was equally important to giving me confidence to get started was having a few friends who were already doing what I wanted to do. 

If this is true raw land with no utilities in place that's a harder sell since grading and utilities are the most expensive cost to land ventures.3) What's the current zoning, and are there any changes to zoning in progress to increase land value? 

I've been looking into BRRRR but I'm a little confused on how this strategy works.I understand the most important part is finding a property at or around 10-20% below market value and having the chance to fix it up to increase the value but what is a bit confusing to me is if you refi the first house and get like 80k or 85k back in a cash out -- how does the bank keep letting you do this over and over?

That usually increases cashflow better than long term rental.Best of luck...

Your son would be the initial minority holder.Have your lawyer set up a strong operating agreement that will not only provide asset protection but also keep your son as a non decision maker even if his shares interest increase in the holding LLC, making you the one in control.Every year, gift tax free to your son more interest in the holding LLC (up to the gift tax exemption fair market value).This holding LLC will file a 1065 and issue a K1 to all members.

Good evening all,When I am running my numbers on an investment property and I am supplied with the property tax from the owner, how do I calculate the increase in property tax based upon its sale?

This is why I always laugh when I see guys with fifteen posts here on Bigger Pockets confidently tell the community that they KNOW that a particular property is undervalued, usually by a huge amount.

A grow operation and the cash aspect though could increase security issues.

I know a lot of working professionals that only do condos for this reason - they just don't have time to deal with the increased aggravation of a house.There is a lot less competition from fellow investors.

We're keeping LTV low, taking more term on our debt than we anticipate needing, and have a plan that focuses on bringing the old leases more in line with the current average rates.We also run Downside scenarios to see what the numbers look like if we're wrong about room to increase or (worse) the market changes and results in vacancy going up and rates going down.Those are not pretty of course, but a large part of winning is being able to stay in the game.