I am not from SE Michigan, I am on the West side, but in the meantime, continue to save money, educate on RE, then most importantly take action!

.- Another yearly goal: I am currently studying for my Series 65 Uniform Investment Adviser Law Exam to better educate myself on the investing world in general.

From what you just mentioned about syndication, borrowing, cash into bank accounts, combining investor funds, etc. it is pretty evident that you dont need some advice here, you need more education and some legal advice. 

Hi BP, I've been educating myself the past month or so on the current market here in PDX.  

@Matt BuroniI may be wrong in some things as I’m still trying to educate myself on the topic.

The way one would become an appraiser is to take, depending on your state, 75 to 80 hours of pre licensing education, pass a couple of super easy tests and then you'll need to find a certified residential appraiser willing to take you on for at least six months, usually it's two or three years, in order to gain the required work experience hours.The problem is finding a certified residential appraiser willing to bring you on as a trainee.

Unfortunately, these opinions are ubiquitous and facts/data are my preferred choice of input to make an educated guess on the direction of the market in the future. 

There are almost as many approaches to real estate as there are people, and that’s why education is really the first and most important thing you should do.

They are all sound guesses with number and data to back them up but at the end of the day...its just their educated guess.

@Terrence Evans My grandma lived in Lomita my whole childhood!