Our BOR here pulls in over a million, they sell education, support RE supplies, take in membership fees and govern members, the franchise is held by an investor.RE is not just flipping houses or buying and holding rentals, there are many related real estate activities that, if you work smart and hard, you can exceed your goals.None of this is overnight, it's all slow and steady to get there.If you need it next year this isn't the industry for you, unless you can follow Jerry W.'

In this economy, in this socially engineered fractional reserve banking system, productivity resides in working smart not hard - you know this!

since here in Sacramento CA , the prices are so high and there are so many cash buyer investors , that there is barley any inventory left for new investors like myself , is it smart to go ahead and buy houses from websites like Auction.com online in other states (i see houses selling on last bids for less than 20K in some states like NC , TN , TX , KY , ... ) without actually looking at poperty itself ?!

However, the smart thing is to step back and do the analysis of how much more it will cost to make it a legal rental.

I drive a smart car, which has a minimum of 91 but I get average (city+hwy) 40mpg so the few cents extra is neglible in the overall savings vs a regular car (or suv as many people have around here).I know gas is rising but please get the grade your car needs, and don't believe all gas is created equal.

Very smart, real estate experience, international experience.http://www.frazierdeeter.com/people/moore.shtmlNote: this is not me and I am not soliciting.

Will: You're a smart guy, and probably have good reasons for doing things the way you do, but, I'm wondering why you don't close with yourself as bene then assign beneficial interest in the trust after closing in exchange for the wholesale fee...similar to selling interest in an entity, thereby sidestepping all the theoretical complications.

I used to drive a vehicle whe the previous owner hit a deer(cracked windshield and inoperable passengar door) and ruined the muffler trying to do an aftermarket glass-pac.After I bought newer used truck (also about the time I started having less time/valuing it more), I stopped being able to collect rent/make money in the war zones.Not sure if it was the change in auto or change in me.I do discriminate against tenants that roll up in an escalade.

I have also seen some people leave with glass jars of which I couldn't see the contents, though they do have about 4-5 cases of empty glass jars in their storage area.

The hard money first then refinance after renovation is pretty smart.