I am very excited to make my introduction on BP as I have been lurking for a few months now, along with reading everything I can and listening to the podcasts.My situation is somewhat out of the norm as I am looking to begin my investing career not here in Iowa but actually in San Diego, closer to where my family is.  

I was terrified and can say that the first 3 times I went out to a property to door knock, I never got closer than the driveway of the house. 

Account Closed, I had one tenant who did not cut the grass on time.

Yes, the interest rate floats with the prime rate, but you can manage that volatility yourself (rather than paying the bank to manage it) by simply setting your payment the same as it would be with a fixed-rate mortgage of the same term.We use exclusively variable rate mortgages on our residential (1-4 unit) properties simply because of the flexibility.If your tenant upstairs is $55/mth below market, you could try to gradually bring them closer (within 3-5% of market) by increasing their rent in small steps over 12-18 months.  

Although Becky is a lot closer to Beth than Patrick is to Neil!

You should either expand beyond the closer in 'burbs there, or go to a different geography all together.  

(closer to 6-7)So a few colleagues of mine are interested in pooling money every month to form a buy-&-hold rental company that would buy rental properties every few months.

Our rate will then be closer to market rate but still a bit below, to attract an ample number of applicants from which to choose.

investing is building one's portfolio, one way or another. if i didnt have the credit nor finances yet to build my portfolio - and around a decade ago i didnt - i'd at least get started on building my knowledge, education and licenses. lookin back, afterall, that's how it happened for me at least, gradually. i didnt just wake up one day and decide investment is the crux of my life (and it isn't). even just being active on BP gets one somewhat closer to eventually one's first property in one's portfolio/track record.

From now until im 18 I want to look back and say I took action on something and I am that much closer to my goal.