You basically have two options available: an instalment sale: the buyers purchase the house from you using X number of regular payments over Y years; or a purchase option: you simultaneously execute a regular rental lease and an option to purchase the property at a fixed price at some point in the future (3-5 years).  

I have not checked a blanket liability policy, but anytime I inquired about a single property commercial insurance, the rate was 3-4x the regular one.

I learned a TON from those experiences and have become much better at sniffing out solid investments.One hard money lender that I met with regularly once told me "if you find a good deal you will ALWAYS find the money (or somebody with it) to get it closed".

Open market it is almost non-existent because some buyers have all cash, some cash with regular financing, or they have cash but need owner finance because they do not qualify the regular way.There are many, many ways to make money in real estate and one does not invalidate the other.

In this discussion, I am NOT discussing the income and expenses for the properties (whether it's a good idea to keep them or how I ran the numbers), but only the taxes.Do accountants regularly cover more than their own state's laws and regulations?  

In this discussion, I am NOT discussing the income and expenses for the properties (whether it's a good idea to keep them or how I ran the numbers), but only the taxes.Do accountants regularly cover more than their own state's laws and regulations?

Not hubzu (although I have dealt with them)But "Regular" foreclosure by fly by night realty company.2 days bef closing OUR title company found unclaimed 3rd mortgage, not yet foreclosed.Sales price $5000, unclaimed was $9000 ten yrs ago...

As of now, I put about 20% of my paycheck towards retirement accounts and 20% towards just a regular high-savings account.

Hey Billy,Welcome to BP.Check out some blogs I wrote for Bigger Pockets a while back that can give you a perception on some if things to look our for when starting:http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2015/01/03/invest-for-cash-flow-or-growth-analysis/http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/12/20/first-investment-property-important-things-consider/http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/11/15/3-types-of-risks-real-estate-investors-regularly-take/I hope you find them useful.Thanks and have a great day.

A little bit about myself for anyone interested:I'm looking to be a buy-and-hold investor while continuing my regular job - I am looking to put money to work and would be potentially interested in doing so as part of someone else's deal; I would consider both SFR and MFR deals.I am an investor in my day job (currently private equity / buyouts, soon to become public equities) so may have some bad habits, or at least industry-specific ones, to break; I generally anticipate being relatively analytical / systematic in looking at dealsMy family held a few properties when I was growing up - I have experience personally doing refurbishing work and secondhand experience with property management activities (this will hopefully help me as contextual information, I don't anticipate taking on an active role in refurb or property management in the near future)Right now, I am trying to educate myself on the process of deal sourcing (MLS, wholesaler buyer lists, etc.) and market data sources; in particular, I would really appreciate any input on good sources for publicly available market-level data in manipulable format such as Excel or .csv as well as input from anyone who uses a systematic deal-screening approach both on their criteria and how they get reliable / quality data into a screening-friendly formatThanks for everything people have already contributed.