By keeping the property for at least a year you get the advantage of taxation of the capital gain at the long term rate, an advantage of up to 19% savings in taxes depending on your nominal tax rate.

Once he went over a certain threshold with number of properties to insure another one was a nominal expense.So not only do you have to verify sellers numbers are accurate you have to check on after that what will be you the buyers costs owning the building and factor that into the price you pay and your projections.       

Then we saw a sign on the wall that said Home Depot will deliver up to 3,000 pounds of materials same-day for $20.A lot less time/hassle for a nominal fee.

Just assuming the loan and putting a nominal (if any) amount of money down?

Rent, deposit, Section 8 yes/no, min income, pets, smoking, $$$ required to move in, no evictions/felonies, favorable references, etc.The less mindless phone calls I can field, the better.

There are several internet services that do background checks for potential tenants for a nominal fee.

(Nominal Cost).

You can probably make a good local resource (in the event you need something in the future) for a nominal amount of money.

I can't imagine it isn't if the fees really are nominal.

These are the best books that I've found for beginners for fix-and-flip and wholesaling:------------------------------------------------"FLIP: How to Find, Fix, and Sell Houses for Profit"Rick Villani and Clay DavisISBN-10: 0-07-148610-0ISBN-13: 978-0-07-148610-1"Getting Started in Real Estate Day Trading"Larry GoinsISBN-13: 987-0-470-41862-8 (cloth)------------------------------------------------As for earnest money deposit, it's not legally required for a valid binding contract (EMD is a deposit not consideration), unless the parties specifically agree in the contract that EMD is required or there is an unusual situation like California pre-foreclosure of an owner occupied home (in that situation CA law requires a nominal cash EMD of about $100 if I recall correctly), and some other states have some inane consumer protection laws regarding pre-foreclosure of owner occupied homes.Having said all that, if you are buying from a For Sale By Owner (FSBO), then I suggest using a 0% interest promissory note for the EMD, that is redeemed upon completion of the inspection period or upon contract assignment, whichever occurs first.