Absolutely, I think many things in life happen for a reason.

Otherwise, some book recommendations (these include mostly books on business/lifestyle or buy/hold investing):- "E-Myth Revisited" by Michael Gerber- "Cashflow Quadrant" by Robert Kiyosaki (further builds on the "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" foundation)- "Set for Life" by Scott Trench- "Long-Distance Real Estate Investing" by David Greene- "The Book on Managing Rental Properties' by Brandon Turner and Heather Turner- "The Miracle Morning" by Hal Elrod-"HOLD" by Gary Keller (geared toward SFR)-"The ABCs of Real Estate Investing" by Ken McElroy (geared toward commercial investing)"Multi-Family Millions" by David Lyndahl (This is on my list of "To-Reads".

I have recently moved from Denver to the east coast for family and want to start my new chapter in life with Real Estate being a big part of it. 

FHA maintains PMI throughout the life of the loan.

One other thing I learned is that 'Cash Value Life Insurance Values' are not counted either, presumably because that is not an easily available means of getting cash to pay for school.

@Daniel Tisdale  Like most things in life and investing, it depends!

Roof that is 15 years old with a 20 year life span will have to recoup the costs in 5 years. 

@Mike TerrySelf-directed IRA funds can be invested into virtually anything except collectibles and life insurance contracts.

If you really want to buy this occupied duplex, think about rich people in your life who may be much cheaper than hard money.

,I'd like to start off by saying I am very impressed at the varying levels of expertise represented on this site and that I only wished I would have learned of all of these opportunities earlier.A little background on myself, I 32 years old, a Texas Native (Houston Area) and for most of my adult life I have been employed (comfortably) in the oil and gas industry.