What I am doing is daily trying to learn my market (Salt Lake City) by running numbers on deals that I see daily from MLS hot sheets that my realtor has set up for me.

@Derrick LumsdenHiI have been focusing on the south hills and have been active around the west side of Pittsburgh as well.

., permits, approvals, key fixtures), but were unprepared for the time associated with some of the smaller details—the lead time for the tiles we selected, not having planned our lighting fixtures and then having to redo electrical work when we picked a side versus top mounted light, having to scramble when selected items were unexpectedly out of stock, etc.

Next door squatter had piled up old siding, with old paint on it, and he was burning it in the chimney in the winter to stay warm.

The buyers inspectors literally praised the work we had done throughout, but a week ago the CL-100 wood infestation inspection came back noting a small bit of non-structural exterior sheathing damage along the bottom of the back wall behind the vinyl siding due to moisture :( The good news is we are 99.9% sure the issue was caused by rain water coming off of the roof and landing in an area that had standing water before we brought in some dirt and gravel to resolve the drainage issue during the remodel (townhouse is on a slab). 

I look forward to participating in discussions and becoming more involved in the community side of things rather than just reading and listening to the podcasts.

It is definitely a hot (and evolving) topic so thanks to @Wayne Brady for creating a thread.

No complaints so far.Try to stay more on the north side as crimes are less there.It kind of a risk reward type situation. 

@Paul K.What side of Real Estate is he looking to focus on?

Getting my license also opened doors to mentors and a side of the business I wouldn't have otherwise seen.