It's always great to see another Loganite.The three components of getting into real estate are time, money and experience.  

rental income is simply one component and not always the most important.

I understand that developing trust is a key component.

Pricing is the most critical component.

:) Bill GulleyI couldn't agree more about recommending these fundamentals and building block educational components..When I started 12 years ago I read and studied everything I could get my hands on, but I realize now that most of it was "guru" style education.

As far as my credit score goes, when I checked it last year I don't remember the exact number but there was nothing detrimental on it just that I could be building up more credit.

In any of those ideas, there are still two different components which is the borrower's principal balance and the invested capital.

I know this is the case with residential but I am not sure how it would work with the mixed-use component and if you could end up occupying the business portion. 

@Johnathan Le - Your debt service is just a component of what its going to cost to carry that condo; if your rent won't cover that alone it really wouldn't qualify as a rental property.   

If you want to be more hands on, go the JV route and make sure that the learning/education component is part of the deal.