They lowered the asking price significantly to gain interest (after trying to sell by auction).

We have been passive landlords, but now that we're wanting to invest in other properties, it's time to get off of our duff! 

Predictable.If you are not comfortable with your ability to judge, ask your real estate agent or a real estate agent or other landlords in the area.For your closing costs, your prepaid interest & monthly interest, taxes and insurance are expense against your profits annually the rest are added to your "basis" , the value you use for capital gain or loss when you sell.Hope this helps!

You are really not gaining much except aggravation, because I don't know how much Help-U-Sell actually do for you.

So $55,000 could be 6 times itself or $330,000 in just one year.If you were to split all the deals for a year, you would still have $165,000 plus all the knowlege that you gained will help you continue earning your whole life.

If you applied both strategies simultaneously, you could buy multiple at a time now while RE is "on sale" and when it starts to climb down the road, you will have the advantage of many properties gaining appreciation.

ROTH IRA's that are self-directed are now the hot topic as it is a way to avoid capital gains on real estate.

Passive income that exceeds my living expenses and 2.

Some lost and some gained.

My goal is to start acquiring properties and renting them out to generate some passive income.