Thanks Steven,Your previous posts are very valuable.As an accountant, do you recommend meeting with a lawyer or an account first to determine the appropriate business structure and start the paperwork process?

I have a lot to learn, have a lot of questions, but, I'm hard working, positive and determined....I will reach my goal!!

You'll always be able to find a reason to not jump feet first into the market...perhaps instead, it would be worthwhile to determine how exactly you can leverage external conditions to maximize your success?

Procrastination causes you to lose the determination.

If I got with the rental property, what thoughts do you have about how to determine if a neighborhood is going to rise or sink over time, and how to safeguard my investment?

To this end, there are 4 things you need to understand..1) You need an agent you can trust to run comps and determine the ARV (After-Repair Value).

I have been doing some reading on it but I would prefer to talk with someone who is doing it to get their perspective on several aspects of it including ease of purchase, maintenance, tax issues, foreign ownership rules, entities, etc.

If you have had these properties for many years, then a 1031 might make sense, but then you have the ownership issue to deal with; 1031 exchange rules basically require the owner of the replacement property to be the same as the owner of the relinquished property.

The appraisal will also have a section where the income approach can be used to set value, but comps are usually used for setting value for a loan.Now, for determining value as an INVESTMENT - I suggest you want your investments to produce income, so you should be looking at income produced.

Some allow no rentals, some a %, some no rental for first one to two years ownership, etc.