It ties in well with investing when you've got an interest in both, but there are plenty of Realtors who don't invest and plenty of investors who aren't licensed.For me, the two go together extremely well and I'm happy I got licensed.

I’m trying to figure out if I can cash out refinance to an 80% LTV conventional loan on this type of property or should I refinance down to what the remaining balance is and then do a HELOC to pull out the rest of the equity(I’m not sure if that’s even an option).

You would take $500K in boot and would then need to purchase at least $700K of real estate using the remaining proceeds in order to fully defer the rest of the tax.An awesome strategy! 

The location, property type, and price-point may differ but what remains the same is what you already eluded to... you still have to go and find the motivated seller...Find motivated sellers.

*From people who invested before 2008 and after* what were your investments/strategies that remained strong during the recession or kept you afloat?

This ties up any loose ends and allows us both to move on. 

@Jacob Kline, i do not use carrot, but it would be the same idea. my guess is the better branded the site the higher the conversion. as in people are more likely to fill out the lead form on something like iwanttobuyyourhomenow.com compared to abcdefg.com. we have our leads tied to Podio, this along with some other tools, automatically sends out texts, automated calls and emails.

Younger residents have tended to leave these areas in recent decades, in many cases pursuing better job opportunities elsewhere, leaving older generations to make up a larger share of those who remain.1) What exactly is the author saying about those metros?

If they are not sold, then when all assets have been liquidated the trustee will abandon any remaining property to the debtor (the taxpayer) as having not enough value for the trustee to pursue.

It's so closely tied to my values and purpose.