We never did rent it to anyone other than my sister-in-law for a short time.I now live in what will probably our "forever home" and am interested in getting into real estate to start making some passive income and ultimately quit my day job.I have listened to a TON of the bigger pockets podcasts and am primarily interested in renting, however, I also don't mind getting my hands dirty and have dabbled in contracting some jobs out myself so may get into flipping as well.My wife and I are big fans of Dave Ramsey and are within about 5 years of paying off our house.

I would use this information to factor in what a reasonable short-sale price would be for the property.

So when I refinance out of a short term loan, there will be a nice chunk of built in equity.

There’s a lot of good areas around here to invest in with a strong long and short term rental market with all the military and tourism.

@Colin Perry Is it a short sale you are trying to buy on auction.com?

Looking at long term trend lines I think we still have a 25-30% gap to fill in the next years and short of a black swan type event that will happen, because there is no way that supply can catch up with demand.

My first house ever purchased was a short sale that I picked up in June of 2012 for $135,000 that my wife and I lived in for about 3 years.

I have been thinking about buying a 2 family, renting in one unit and living in the other in the short term.

We've also put together some training events for short-term rentals.

That relatively short drive was rather illuminating; the neighborhood was pretty bad and the place needed much more than just a roof.