Although you can occaisionally hit a homerun with a stock or two and gain the 100-300% in a short period of time the risk is also much greater.I've read articles saying how the market returns 7-8% interest(i forget the exact numner) and real estate 3-4% over the long run.

There was an article in the local newspaper about our local re club and the president was quoted as saying the majority of the membership didn't own one investment property.

I've been looking into real estate for a while by reading books, articles, etc. and have decided to buy my first house or condo with my boyfriend to rent out, just to get my feet wet.

If it is to learn the many options as far as real estate investing....Then, I would suggest that you start by reading all of the articles in the forum, and the blogs, as well as start in the starting out forum.

I've bought rentals from desperate landlords who told me they were physically sick and couldn't sleep due to the stress of their tenant or money situation.

I recently read an article that predicted 1.1 million homeowners will be foreclosed on by 2014....thoughts anyone?

I setup "bank" accounts for security deposits (physically held) and current liability accounts for the sec. deposits as owed.

Read some of the articles written by lawyers regarding mold suits.

As far as this one deal - it closed and if there's anything that basic physics can teach you it's that what works once, can work again.

One of the details of that, in a nutshell, is that if no one is physically living on the land, even if there is something being developed there, anybody can "move-in" and begin living there.