But then I decide I'd like to snap a few shots of the back of the house and check for overall condition.. .... que up the tension musicSo before I get through the front yard,  a man starts walking out from the back yard.. a large man.. a kinda scary looking guy that I immediately got a bad vibe about - he looked up and was caught by surprise.

Hello!I am currently involved in the real estate industry on the commercial side as a project manager/owner's rep. I've gotten to the point where I'm seeking to start and grow a real estate portfolio. I'm looking to l...

Assuming the rents cover your expenses, in 30 years when you're in your early 50s and the mortgage is paid off, and you've done the smart thing by raising the rents over the years (this is Chicago we're talking about, not Podunk, Iowa), you will be sitting on a multi-million-dollar asset that cash flows thousands of dollars per month at the cost of a measly $20k or so out-of-pocket when you were 23.

I am in the early stages of evaluating multiple properties, so a little too early to be engaging an insurance broker for every property I want to evaluate.I am looking for a solid number to be able to plug into the handy-dandy BP Rental Property Calculator.If it helps, I'm looking at properties in Des Moines, Iowa (IA), but am still open to what you're seeing in other states.Any help/insight would be greatly appreciated.Thank you!!

Daniel,Thanks for the good advice, As I am a newbie in Iowa just starting out in the income investment area.Terry

Newbie military investors (which I still consider myself to be one) really need to understand what may go wrong in real estate because they are in the military such as PCSing (especially shortly after arriving to a new area) and having strategies to deal with it, deployment/surge deployments (also something that us Navy folk call an Individual augmentee or IA), landlording at a distance or landlording in general, and overseeing rehabbing without being able to visit the job site on a regular basis. 

However, the skill set needed ia high.

I as well am new to this whole thing.. looking for the same thing you are..

If you won't be cooking for yourself/need a kitchen, then I a hotel.But, it is all about your budget.Is this trip for work or leisure?

I bought a house in Iowa Park, which is about a 20 minute drive (at least back then.)I still own that house, now rented, and will close on another there hopefully next week!