We have also done some behind the scenes stuff to prepare us for future growth.

I'm looking to make a change in a BIG way and am now preparing to make the jump into real estate investing full-time.

I do appreciate the time and effort you put into your post and I definitely pulled good things out of it about the background and the real world example of what you need to be prepared for in a worst case scenario, so thank you.

Looking to gain additional knowledge, network with other professionals, and hopefully find a mentor to learn from so I can prepare myself to begin investing and doing deals within the year.I'm located in Camarillo, CA and currently work in the SFV.I have been following the forums for a few weeks now as a guest and decided it was time to register and step out of the shadows.

So when the call gets to you,you'd know why they are calling which gives you time to prepare.

I've been interested in investing for a while now and I've finally decided to take an active role to make the preparations I need to invest.Of the types of investing, real estate has always had this appeal to it that makes it stand out from other types.

Now if she inherited money and does not currently have a tax preparer or CPA, then she may want to consider getting one for at least the first year to make sure she didn't miss anything. there are a few things which come into play when money is inherited."

I still think the FMV is still around 145k, so I'm looking to pay around that for it, I will ask exactly what is owed, what rate etc, to see how long it would take to get the property from being underwater and like the idea of having the 4 possible extensions (in case FHA won't allow me to purchase after the 3 years from my foreclosure) I do truly want to thank you guys for all the advice, never having done this before, I've seen so many things that would lead me to think I needed to bring 3-5% now (which I could and would be prepared to do) to put toward the purchase.

Prepare ahead of time by identifying issues and questions you have, and see how they perform.

Andrew Johnson “I use Appfolio out of santa barbara, ca its definitely not free and my property mgmt company passes those costs down to me which I think is around 50-60 bucks a month based on number of units under the service.I am able to see all reports from rent rolls, cash flow statements / trailing 12 month cash flow, tenant ledgers, maintenance requests, dialog between tenants and mgmt staff, resolutions to maintenance requests, move in pictures, move out pictures, or video, and many more features.What I like is that it allows the vendors to be in a dialog/text/chat box so they are prepared (vendor) prior to job assignment with lockbox codes, scope of work and pictures before they even go to the site so we dont waste time figuring things out and run up a huge $$$ bill for lack of efficiency.”