Unless I had enough money to buy the property outright, but that would defeat the whole purpose of real estate investing.

I know Texas has remained a fairly strong market while the country as a whole has been lagging, so it may be difficult to find discounted properties in your area (especially Austin).

This will ensure that people who register on the site with the whole intention of SPAMMING through PMs will be dissuaded.2 - Members will not have access to email one another through the forum.

I do hope you enjoy the whole process of informing youself as well as informing others around you.

Frankly there is no way to do so in the US as there is no real listed securities that represent the whole market.

Some of my buyers still want to walk through or have their contractor walk through, and some will just do a drive by depending on the circumstances.Bottom line, yes, your buyer needs to know what's wrong with a property, but a professional property inspection is not always a feasible or effective way to achieve that goal.

In today's market, I have a special interest in REOs as I'm sure many people do.I wish you all the success in achieving your real estate dreams!

thank you both for your wise words, well anyway i guess i'm just so anxious to do my first deal. especially a deal like this were the homeowner is in distress and states to you how much equity is in the property (i know i'm a beginner, but i don't see how he'll benefit by lieing to me about the amount of equity in the property, because he already stated he doesn't want to sell the property, and i already stated to him i'm gonna view the property/mortgage paperwork)well anyway i must say i agree with you both, from first look it seems the best way to do this deal (thats if all the number are right) will be to purchase the house for the amount left on the mortgage, and give them moving cash and etc (this way i'll have alot of instant equity within the property, which i could either wholesale to another investor or put it on the market at a small discount and sell it retail because of the properties perfect condition, then i could even try a short sale to build up more equity to make the two above tactics more profitable for me)now the only tactic i can think of that would work, were they will get to stay in there house and will be profitable/beneficial to me as well is to then purchase the property real cheap (whats owed on it) and offer to lease option it back to them at a higher interest rate and at a higher property price, but i think this tactic will be risky with this individual because of his credit and the nature of work he's in (construction were some parts of the year your without work and tring to collect unemployment) so this is what i plan on doing, i first plan on putting together a list of questions i must get answers to at the tuesdays meeting i plan on having with them, then i plan on explaining the whole foreclosure process to them and the uphill battle they face (which i hope will change their position about not wanting to sell their house under any cumstances), then i plan on making a smooth exit and letting them know i'll be back in contact with them to let them know what i think their best solution is to solve their problem (this tactice is to buy time, so i can really cruch the numbers and speak with others to really figure out the best win-win for everyone, thats if their is a deal their)if anyone has any other suggestions please let me know

I basically got confident by setting small goals and achieving them.

The one good thing about it so far is it sits on a whole city block, so we could actually do something with the land, either seperately or instead of doing something with the building.