With combining some simple door/window sensor, a smart thermostat, and a good web interface provider to combine this data you can have great peace of mind. 

Hello...I have been reading everything i can get my hands on here but this is my first official post. 

Hello everyone,This is kind of a weird question but my fiance  and I will be attending our first REIA meetup this weekend and it occurs to me that every businessman I’ve ever met says you must have business cards at networking events, and we have none.Now my first thought is, we haven’t made our first deal and are still planning to pull the trigger in about 2 months, so it really feels sorta presumptuous to print off business cards which say anything real estate related.On the other hand, having never really been to a meetup not related to my day job where I would totally have business cards, I’m unsure if it’s really bad etiquette not to have them.So my quick poll is, as people who have done this way more than me, what do you guys think?

@Ivan Dushchenko What you seem to be misunderstanding is:You can get a heloc for up to 80-90% of The Value Of The Property, Less Your 1st Mtg.You can Not borrow "80-90% of the equity itself".Simple example:$100k property $70k first mtgEquity = $30k80% heloc= $80k (80% of value) less existing $70k mtg=$10k can be borrowed (not 80% of $30k)

One can never have enough cash on hand and ready to go for when a deal comes along. 

We didn't originally buy it for a STR and the numbers work just fine without it so it's not that big of a deal...just a little miffed about property rights but on the other hand I can see the other side. 

I am in the process of making my first real estate purchase with my parents and its not a simple one - it is a lot in the town I want to live in with a house on it that's a demo.

Then I got to the point where I felt that I was "book smart" enough that the only way to really learn anything more was to jump in and get hands on experience.

Please click on the links, give them a read, and share your thoughts in the comments.First is a post that I feel will help not get overwhelmed with the amount of info that is here on BP:https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/5868/52761-the-simple-guide-to-getting-started-on-bpThe second is a post that will help get you focused with your real estate investing goals:https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/5868/52743-im-new-to-bp-any-advice-would-be-appriciatedThe last one is a post that will help you choose an “investor friendly” real estate agent.

I sat by and watched a couple of better deals pass by without any cash in hand because of the money I had wrapped up in this deal.