-Townhome/condominium sales shot up 112.7 percent and reached record-level pricing with the average price up 8.8 percent to $246,940 and the median price up 11.0 percent to $200,000;-Single-family home rentals fell 3.4 percent with the average rent up 11.0 percent to $1,960; -Townhome/condominium leases rose 15.1 percent with the average rent up 8.0 percent to $1,688.

My criteria for the first investment:3 bedroom 2 baths (at least 2 bathrooms for resale value)In a decent upcoming neighborhoodIn the 150k – 250k rangeIn Bentonville, ARSome preferred qualities: 1) no major renovations, 2) have more expensive houses surrounding it, 3) fenced-in yard.How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

The failure rate is very high in our industry. 90% of licensees quit within their first 5 years and I believe we've already lost a decent chunk of our competitors over the last year.

I’m guessing that a lot of research would need to be done to find a lender and a decent contractor especially.

I'm 31 years old and I kind of feel like this is a long shot/pipe dream.

@Tammy MasonGotcha, yeah I try to search for a neighborhood with decent schools

I made a decent return and got to make my parents happy.

I've noticed now that rent prices have shot up drastically and a lot of deals work again due to the new benchmark for rents.

Should the property and area attract decent tenants?

We did a decent job estimating our budget, considering it was our first time.