It will pay off for you in the long run.I have NO crystal ball, but I cannot believe that the int rates will continue to rise, the global economy is not that strong and if the dollar rises too far, it could cause economies overseas (to fail) and this will rattle the markets and people do not buy, anything, when they are nervous.

I strongly urge you to get a good mentor as well.So, I would suggest that you save those dollars while you explore real estate and determine if it is right for you. 

I don't want to think the firm we chose is doing this, but they certainly don't have strong incentives to do things fast, and I'm paying them to correct their own omissions/errors of the inexperienced engineer who were assigned on our project.So as you can see, I did my homework in choosing a local, reputable firm, who does lots of business with the city, and still ran into such an issue.

We have four bank commitments on this deal already with loan terms of 10+ years fixed at 4.8%-4.9% amortized over 25-30 years.

It changes county to county how landlord-friendly it is, but overall Iowa is quite landlord friendly. it does come down to how strong your lease is and how good your property management company is as well.

My research leads me to believe that a specific mortar needs to be used, as the stone and antique brick are not as strong as modern day products/construction.  

Cincinnati is a strong Midwest market, but as investor interest has increased, so have seller expectations.

My roommate has begun his journey into real estate investing and now owns his second house in under 13 months.I would love to pitch him the idea of setting up a lease purchasing agreement with the commitment of buying the place in 2-3 years.

I read it again earlier this year, and it really got me to commit to massive action and to get moving with REI.

One presumes that @Indy Smith is not a criminal seeking advice on an open forum as to how to commit fraud therefore anecdotal stories of criminal activity just don't seem applicable to me.