It's all a matter of preference, both strategies work but you need to figure out what your strategy is going to be before you jump in.Spend some time drawing up a business plan and stick with it until you find something that can be improved upon, then make the change to your plan that is necessary and roll with it until you find another improvement.

If the agent is desperate for a sale you're more likely to make this work than if there are other potential buyers (where the agent has a chance to make the full 6%).Can't hurt to ask, though...

I think you and I agree on this but it bears noting (for the newbs) that when analyzing a property's cash flow performance, putting more money down on the acquisition does not improve the property's inherrent performance.

Finish improvements on a duplex4.

If your desire is to do commercial re investing, the finance degree would be an excellent choice.Large commercial deals are not just real estate on a larger scale, every aspect of them from the buying process to the financing to partners to holding, improving and selling are all different.A finance degree would give you the leg up on pulling all of the parts and pieces together.You are already a nurse and will always have that as a fallback, you are already a trader and will always have that as a fallback.

Chances are you're going to find not only someone who's willing to help you with numbers, but someone who will look out for you if you are getting into major structural issues.

Does this include deferred maintenance and reserves for capital improvements (new roof in 10 years, HVAC replacements, etc)?

Sorry my Name is Zac :)I just started browsing the site so I haven't really had a chance to see what is available yet, but I am really enjoying everything I have read so far.I'm not sure if there is a local Real Estate Investing Association or not, but I will definately check into it.

I would give them one chance to fix this.

By Nat'l Assoc of Realtors (NAR) standards, which is carried over in many of the state associations, Realtors have to present all legitimate offers.Having said that, you may want to read a bunch in this forum as the chances of your offer being accepted is quite low, though possible.