I've quickly grown tired of my rootless existence and long for the day when cashflow from my my portfolio will at least sustain the portfolio's growth, or at best replace enough of my income so I can trade this job for something less lucrative but more stationary.

Similar to driving, it is not illegal to drive, but it is illegal to go above the speed limit.

Greg....Ryan is spot on with the "rent-to own" or "lease with option to buy" but the one thing to add is the non-refundable upfront fee....This is also part of a down payment you add up front...Could be 1-3% of the agreed to purchase price (which you should look at based off when you decide to sell and add the average growth rate based of your market...could be anywhere from 3-8%....So if the house is worth 200K now and you plan to sell in 2018 using say 5% growth per year, you would offer the house at 250K for the sale).

She was driving the neighborhood and saw this property.

They are hard to come by here in SoCal because there is a lot of competition, but every once in a while when I'm driving for dollars I discover a gem.

We're going to Port Aransas in 2 weeks, so I'll probably drive through.

Has anybody closed deals in that specific or surrounding area before that can tell me if it worth the drive?

Our current biggest hinderance to growth has been getting financing.

So I drive around targeted zip codes.

There will all ways be a few that have the vision, ability, and drive to make more money than the masses.