I don't want to get into a situation where I've bought the property and the city won't allow me to add the units. 

I bought my 8-plex a little over a year ago.

I bought a house last year (also on our street) with a mortgage, and I withdrew funds from my IRA to put down the downpayment.

I bought bank REO's and this sounds unreal.1.)

I've also bought two of his other books to add to my library of knowledge.

In fact she bought it at an auction 3 years ago and never got around to finishing the repairs!

All my properties are small multi families and all are carried on commercial loans... oops take that back, the very first property I bought was bought using a personal loan.

Some I bought very cheap and am waiting for sewer.  

Our strategy is a 3-5 year flip that when you add up the cash flow, the tax savings from depreciation, the mortgage debt pay down, and the fact that we bought it under market value and that we are selling it on a lease option so we don't need to pay realtor fees and have minimal closing costs, our average total profit over a 3-5 year period is round 60k per property that my partner and I split.  

I bought my first house in MA where I reside, but have had fear of purchasing an income property.