Once you have jumped in, I would start looking into other areas.

The phase I'm in is the debt paydown/education phase.

Love the post, it's a fun rollercoaster and i'm about a year in. I

Hi Marcus, Do you still invest in Lake County, IN? I

@Maria Teo An architect can only save you money on larger scale projects where IF they have the right expertise they can make cost saving design changes. 99% of the time they will not save you any money on your home remodel once you include their fee.Existing plumbing is grandfathered in I don't see how you would need to replace all of it to bring it up to code, you are probably mistaken.

The one revelation I gained from reading that changed the way I lived was something I learned in RICH DAD, POOR DAD: The home you own and live in is a liability, not an asset.

I agree that choosing a property/city you don't mind living in is a key factor, you will have a much better experience and long term success if you chose somewhere you enjoy vs purely chasing cashflow.

Putting an offer in is easy, it doesn't require all of the contracts etc, your broker just fills in a 1 page form and if it's accepted they email everything out.

Do you happen to have some sort of cheat sheet of a list of neighborhoods in Chicago and what class they are considered to be in? I

Anthony's suggestion of continuing to pay your regular rate of rent once you move in is a good one.