You'd be very smart to start assembling your 203k Team, which will consist of the REALTOR, lender, 203k Consultant, and contractor.REALTOR needs to not be afraid of the 203k and excited to use it.

Hindsight of course, lesson learnedHe’s been “ok” as a tenant, consistently late on payment, causing me to post notice multiple times, but eventually does pay.

As far as appreciation, I'm 55 so 25 years is a long shot, but I'm confident it will probably triple in value in about 15 years or so.

@Marina Condon..looks like the answers are consistent here.

Am I naive to think it should be much more consistent?

It's not the sweet deal I got on my first four loans with my credit union but there is no balloon, which is what my other option consisted of.  

As an example, I went to Italy a few months ago and while I was there I shot over to croatia and montenegro because I heard good things about potential ROI in their real estate markets.Most often they don't offer what I'm looking for on a risk adjusted return basis but every once in awhile I find a sensational opportunity and take advantage of it.  

Slow and consistent growth for quite some time.

Also, it's a straight shot over to Orlando if they want to go to the theme parks.

In my state, the coursework could not be done on line.Real Estate Express was still recommended for their exam prep which consisted of a series of on line exams to practice.