For me I would rather spend that money on a mentor with a proven system that is where I have shifted my focus.

Hey @Jason Thomas, As an overview for folks reading:Real estate professional status is obtained by passing BOTH of the two tests: TEST 1: 1. spending at least 750 hours in a real property trade or business 2.

Additionally, if the single-family home is used as a rental property, you can benefit from depreciation deductions over the property's useful life, which you would report on Form 4562 and deduct on Schedule E (Form 1040).

I always replace toilets, shut off valves, water fixtures, add frostproof water spigots with additional isolation valves for winterizing, switches, light fixtures, Add ceiling fans to every bedroom, GFCI outlets, regular outlets, smoke detectors with 10-year or hard-wired-in, use a quality one coat semi-gloss paint, basic white washer/dryer and Exterior door locks with touchpads (key free). 

The addition of a Ground Fault Interrupter negates the need for a ground wire.

Hi All,Newbie here. 55 yr old planning to retire in 2 years, learning about real estate investing in order to have a source of steady inflation-proof cashflow (in addition to stock dividends) prior to taking social security at age 70 - so I don't need to sell stock investments.

However, when you sell it, will the assessor consider the additional square footage in the assessed value or only use the permitted square footage? 

I have been eager to learn and have been spending a lot of my time reading, listening, and watching, whatever I can about real estate investing.

Also, BP have a lot of books you can learn about different strategies, study them and find out which ones you like more and find the right market for it.In addition to that, I would listen to podcasts about real estate investing to learn new strategies, market conditions, rehab, partnerships, financial possibilities... and speaking of partnerships, that would be a great way for you to learn.

Clean up your credit, stop spending on that CC, get pre-qualified for loans, and then walk properties (in that order).