My particular method unfortunately is grab a chair, photo copy everything, and spend a lot of time trying to decipher exactly what the "official" stats on a building are.Anyone have a time saving idea for going about this?  

I am assuming you aren't officially licensed until step 5 is completed?

Coming in from Puyallup, been 'studying' this subject for a few months, and want to start this 'rest of my life' project.I have done alot of reading on how to get started in real estate investing, but I keep running into a couple things:1) alot of people suggest to start with foreclosures.  

The rest of the exercise is to offer what you can pay based upon the margin/profit you'll work for. 

Bank financed the rest but I had to have a decent income to show as well.

So the rest of my properties (in a cash flow only market) are financed commercial.  

The bad apple makes it more difficult for the rest of us.Mark

The rest simply want to do the minimum and be lazy. 

That is, the only thing consistent about a private loan is that there is no consistency.In addition, much as it bothers some, lenders will call themselves what they want (hard money, private money, asset based, etc…) and there are no strict, legal, or "official" definitions or guidelines.Traditionally, hard money loans are based upon the value of the asset that secures them.

Yesterday I had my first verbal accepted offer on a FSBO house but have never purchased a property without my Realtor. 1) Should I tell my Realtor about the property and get an official signed offer?