It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for me and I want to make my folks proud of what I do with it and grow it into something wonderful to leave my kids someday.

Having a solid foundation is key, adding significant value to every deal allows you to grow,  I would say with your $50K go out and do a rehab and make $30K on a flip so you can add $20K to your $50K  ($10K set aside for taxes) do it a few times so you have a great launching pad and rehab experience for the rentals. dont buy turn key rentals, always buy below value, and push the equity with a rehab, and right now in the market cycle, only buy great deals, marginal deals will burn you when this market changes.

The new account would allow the tax benefits to continue, but the earnings would be used to grow the account rather than generate immediate income for yourself.

Dayton is growing jobs now, not sure Detroit is keeping up in that arena.

I suggest you look for any sign of distress or anything out of the ordinary.

@Alan Eisenberg - vlueadd in a growing = highly transient market.

Then, finish with Long Distance Real Estate Investing which again narrows down your chosen field (rental properties) and looks at how to go about building teams and growing your portfolio from a distance.How did you choose these three books in particular?

If you want to grow fast, using partners money will expedite that.    

We seem to be slowly growing and had maybe 20-25 people at last months event.If our paths don't cross, but sure to update on how your deal(s) go.

Although average market prices in Austin are higher then San Antonio/Houston/Dallas, we are growing at a much higher rate.