Let me expand on what Al said.

Getting a realtors license is only a step above getting a notary public license. 10 - 15 years ago the only thing they had was access to the mls and data that nobody else did.

And his family had enough money his mom was able to buy him access to a mainframe computer.

We are expanding our business from "buying and holding" properties to rehabs.

Hi All,My name is Dana and I'm new to this sort of thing, but eager to learn and get involved in investing in real estate.Just looking to expand my network here and figured this would be a good way to begin this venture.Nice to meet you all,Dana

My local county tax appraisal district has access to the the MLS database and uses it to find out sale prices even if not reported by the seller.

Depending on your specific circumstances, the price of video security systems has really dropped making them accessible for a variety of purposes.

So let me just expand for the BENEFIT OF FUTURE READERS and other newbies who think having a "mentor" is the be all and end all to becoming an investor.Why would you agree to a purchase price of $198K in a neighborhood of $90K to $145K houses?

It sounds like you're off to a good start, and I hope that BiggerPockets can help you continue to expand your investing career.Good luck and welcome to the site!

I love their quick development time and access to lots of add-ons (such as IDX, contact pages, and even blogs) that I would have had to build manually.