Get on the phone and/or visit your local lenders for a face to face and you find yourself immersed in so much financial speak that you need a recorder to take notes.As for the other parts of my "team" contractors are a slow and growing process as is having a very good reliable agent that also understands my criteria ( everyone's different ) and also meshes with my personality.The latter is one that I see is more of a challenge for several in this forum.

Married with a family of 2 young children, my wife is a stay home mom, has been found the last 4 years.

But remember, these are college students and they might not want to live in a residential neighborhood full of couples with children playing everywhere and the home owners might not want the college kids in the neighborhood either!

Have had challenges findings/lining-up GCs in the area (myself), so have to play the part myself.

I am a dad and contract technical writer taking my family's first steps into REI.After reviewing several options, my wife agrees that buy and hold real estate in our community looks to be the best investment we can make for our children's college fund.

You're the only person that can answer that question, as you are the only one that knows how you prioritize your values.For example:  Do you have school aged children?  

I am extremely excited for the opportunities to invest in real estate and create a company/brand that I can pass on to my children. 

This makes Portland challenging for out-of-towners who want a decent ROI.  

We build new construction (though it's a challenge finding land). 

I enjoy the challenge of trying to find "Deals" along with the satisfaction to potentially solve someone's problem.