I have just read through the four years of this thread and found some great tips, thank you to the OP @Thomas Youngman and all the content others have provided.

Good news is they must have read my welcome guide

I recommend reading “Long-Distance Real Estate Investing: How to Buy, Rehab, and Manage Out-of-State Rental Properties” - I found it to be very helpful when I got started investing 2.5 years ago.

As you read these books, watch the BiggerPockets podcasts.

Quote from @Nicholas Dillon: I read somewhere that you can request to have your mortgage insurance dropped once your Loan to Value reaches 80%.

By working for a larger corporation you are gaining an unfair advantage, by letting them train and develop you (while you are getting paid) and you do real estate on the side.This idea is not from me, read RichDad. 

I saw it coming so I forced myself to learn REI strategies and to read this forums 2-3 times per week.

Not sure if this will go against the culture here but if I read correctly and you are considering tying up your primary residence to an investment property please reconsider leveraging the home your family lives in. 

I am staying wondering why there is so little information on tax liens,  i read some books on notes and foreclosures but looks like a big secret here... maybe that's the reason... i need to go into this to find out :)

I just read an article in Bloomberg magazine that talked about the tech worker migration to Bend