Thanks Kathy for your response, Kind we are as an investors to our tenants, that is not the topic.17 yrs as a month to month lease, My only concern is the duration with HUD assistance can be an issue or longer months or year to vacant the place.

Every month I stay in the duplex I'm tying up one unit and losing what could be an extra $850 towards my next investment.To anyone with more experience or knowledge: I've saved up enough to use $20 - $40K. 

I'm looking for a job in Real Estate that will teach me the skills needed to be an investor while making some income to get started.

We can meet for coffee one day and see if I can help you get started. 

The question I have is, can someone have a real estate license in Maine and also be an investor?

Realizing that more funds are going to be needed on bigger deals I wanted know if there are many non bank lenders out there that do commercial bridge financing on vacant or nearly vacant properties and what points and rates might look like.I have tried to get traditional commercial bank financing with some of my small lenders that take the deal after its stabilized, but it seems to be an uphill struggle. 

I am currently really considering in investing in real estate and I originally believed it was just through single family homes but I recently found out that buying apartment complexes or even industrial buildings can also be an option.

Worst case, hard money may be an (expensive, short term) option.

You can find it by searching for "Coffee with Investors in Delray".

I can see how this would be an exciting proposition, but run your numbers very carefully.