Sure, I'll have to pay $115, but it's not such a bad trade off when im considering this deal as a net-worth builder, a forced savings plan, and, I will get tax benefits from deductions which makes my effective cost of owning this unit a positive.

Im willing to trade labor skills for knowledge or some cash capital to invest with any of the season veterans down in my area.

We sure could use some good tips and tricks of the trade since we never did anything like this before.

sub 30k can work for those that live there and stay on top of them like a hawkthe feel good part is fine in theory until your unit gets trashed.So depends on where your going ot live... you do this from across the country and you stand at least a 50% chance of losing money and significant money.. 30k rentals homes if that's what your paying for them rent ready.. trade as pre rehab about 3 to 5k per house. that's what your property will be worth if you are unlucky and get a tenant that trash's it.so your savings is gone and never coming back.

Even though every jack of all trades will tel you that he/she paints.  

Electrician by trade I am  seriously considering getting into real estate as an agent full time. 

I traded my RE and mortgage broker's licenses for a corporate banking job as a last resort.

I also think you're doing a great job of diversifying to mitigate risk, but if I had a limited amount of money I would be more likely to diversify on the level of an index fund where I could potentially be invested in every publicly traded company in the world. 

This is part of the reason their properties trade at a slight discount in the market to, not only account for condition, but also for the extra costs involved in the sale.$700 is a pretty small price...here in MD the extra costs are typically in the thousands.

Flipping PropertiesIf the primary objective of your real estate business, or one of your real estate businesses, is to buy, potentially fix up an existing property and resell it within one year, the Internal Revenue Service can consider that to be an active trade or business.