.* Stipple or popcorn ceilings (Way faster than a smooth-texture ceiling)* Carpet, carpet, everywhere (And vinyl flooring)* Basic cabinets and formica tops* Limit the number of windows in the house, and make sure they're all 1/1 vinyl* Minimal outlets and switches.

I hope it goes smoothly for you.

definitely make use of gov sites to help you provide more insight into areas:census data- zipskinny has some interesting stats based on census- go straight to census site for data- neighborhoodscout is another resource- local gov site may have more stats about neighborhood and demographicsschool district data- find out school districts in the area and look up related local gov website for stats- check out greatschools.com and similar sitespast sold data- the usual: connect w/a realtor- review zillow on past solds for your target property profile- trulia can provide some more insights into areas like zillow doesrental comps- check rentometer- craigslist- local realtorgoogle maps- cash for gold sites, payday sites- affluent supermarkets, restaurants- public transittake into consideration how proximity to certain retail biz or transit can be desirable or influences the local areaNY is a cramped place to evaluate neighborhood on just google map factors listed above alone... i know there are various neighborhoods and depending on what block or side of the tracks, values can go up or down.

I transitioned over to the business side of things because I was an incredibly horrible engineer

Houston proper is very much neighborhood specific, but Spring and, to a lesser extent Cypress, offer quite a bit of value for the dollar.Let us know if there's ever anything we can do to help you along your investing transition!

We have the house we want for our first primary residence picked out, which should provide us with decent instant equity, but going through credit repair to be able to qualify for a FHA 203k mortgage.Ultimately, we'd like to build a small rental portfolio to cover personal income requirements, and start an organization to provide assistance to veterans and their families in the areas of transitional housing, needed home repair, and job training.

Like many others I am looking to transition slowly into RE investing, wholesaling in particular (to start).

If you know West Seattle, California Ave, 35th Ave, and 16th Ave define transitional zones in values.

I am trying to make an amicable transition, since I hear my tenant just moved out, and created some damages.

Agree with Phillip, ease in, do RE when you have time, when you get the hang of it start devoting more time to RE to make the transition.