There is about $100,000.00 in mandatory earthquake retro fitting that needs to happen so maybe make this a credit? 

The barrier to entry for a first time home buyer owner occupant is incredibly low and efficient with the number of low down payment loan options and excellent interest rates and terms.

The books in the BP store are excellent - Brandon's book on Low and No Money Down, Anson's book on Finding and Funding Great Deals, and J.

You can probably get some good connections that way and see who you fit best with. 

It seems that might be more realistic to fit for my current life, although it is less appealing to me.

I've always had a "fling" for numbers and a subconscious love of architecture so real estate only seemed to be a fitting field and I've grown to love it.

Hey BiggerPockets,I'm interested in starting my real estate investing with small apartment buildings (around 5-12 units) in the Pittsburgh area but am having a tough time finding real estate agents who excel with these property types.Any suggestions on generating leads and finding agents who specialize in this apartment building size?

@Joshua Paul the answer to your question is that yes, this is an excellent idea!

All I'm gonna say about that is that given how strong our current real estate cycle is this time around, it is the perfect, rare opportunity to sell any properties that fit the Roofstock or HomeUnion profile.

For flips, I excel in valuing the as-is and as-repaired values and produce forward looking valuations based on market trends.