This one that just happened was my 3rd, and it's the first one that didn't burn me good.

@Will Barnard - yes, some folk leveraged themselves to the gills and got burned for being stupid - others, however, only sinned in that they've taken a mortgage that suddenly became unaffordable and unsustainable, purely due to market downturn, and through no fault of their own.

That's about it - and you're just as likely to get burned or make money as you are in the US.In any case, as mentioned, thanks for a great and concise explanation - it's clarified a lot.

If you avoid burning it up, then you can back off once you have a sufficient reserve.$12,500 is just not a very big kitty to start real estate investing.

I get e-mails from this guy Gary from his OPMCREDIT  promotion almost every day.  

Look up "cognitive bias" you'll find that people look for justifications for what the desire to do.This air has been cleaned many times by those with a bit greater knowledge of the matter than the newbies arguing the points or those promoting wholesaling as a strategy.

However, how many people drop out of REI because of being burned out on management every day of the week?

I do not believe the new furnace would bring in higher rents, esp when I'm on the projected top end of rents, my neighborhood is a lower income neighborhood, most people do not even have central air, there was one woman who lived 3 doors down who had the utilities shut off to her house for a couple of years and burned wood for heat in her house.

I've got another $60k burning a hole in my pocket but I'm understandably a little gunshy and wondering if I'm not better off sticking it into a mutual fund somewhere.

Similar to a syndication setup where I am bird-dogging but not truly acting as a promoter..Thanks Much!