Hi Ashley - please confirm with someone who knows more as I'm no expert, but it's possible that your mom may be better off from a tax standpoint if she does rent to you.

I'm seeking more knowledge and looking to network with other investors.

As regards partnerships, that seems to add more to my lack of knowledge - if you know what I mean!

Since it would be unlikely that could happen, it would either be no deal or you can try to refer them to a realtor/short sale expert.

Do you have any knowledge in renovations?

I designed the site to look good on a smart phone (at least I think it does lol)I always link my blogs to my facebook page to try and generate some traffic, sense of awareness and expert branding.

I'm the type of person who will soak up as much knowledge as I can on a subject.

That is not my area of expertise so I will not comment further and leave that up to an expert in that field.

I've been interested in getting started in real estate for awhile now but didn't have the funds/area knowledge to even know where to begin.

The article that Will posted the link to is public knowledge and perfectly all right to post on a BP thread.People are entering the field of Real Estate Investing every day.