Hi everyone,I am new to Bigger Pockets and REI in general. I am looking for a good software tool to help analyze deals quicker. I found an article on BP that suggested Home Smart Reports and RealQuest, but was wonderi...

ok, small update:i compared my options. based on youtube i should be able to crack the thing open with a long pry bar ($16, as my normal crow bar doesn't look like it'll give me enough leverage) in ~2 minutes. how do they get away with calling these things "safe"?

that's a huge red flag as well.just pop on to lendinghome's website they have really good pricingso does lima one.. those are national for real lenders you can compare if someone is cheaper then them then I questions it right off the bat.the only way you can have cheap rates and stay in business is if your like these guys VERY large and make it up in volume.. just be careful don't give out your SS and don't give them any money until you are certain you think they are real.. and they could be.. you have not given any details to help anyone really let you know if they are real or not..

I’ve ‘lurked’ boards, read books and blogs but just haven’t been able to actually make a move beyond a personal traditional real estate purchase.

You may want to consider buying real estate with a tax-advantaged account like a Traditional or Roth IRA.  

(Traditional banks don’t seem very interested in doing HELOC’s).I’ve resorted to just looking on the MLS at this point.

I wanted to see if anyone on the forums as a portfolio that has a mix of these two types, and what rate of return do you see in comparing them. 

The way to look at the market is to compare the property to the days on market.

It is also true that the prices in the midwest is much lower compared here in Cali.

I looked briefly at their website and they are expensive (from a landlords perspective) compared to the alternatives.