I don't think people realize how important it is to study sales and negotiation.I lost one deal to another investor because of my inexperience, but that was a lesson in itself.I learned how to get a hard money loan, how to do a rehab estimate and how NOT to do a rehab estimate.

When you buy a property, you are going to realize benefits for a number of years so you should be able to "expense" the cost over a number of years.

I don't want to spend my whole budget on the exterior, but I do realize that curb appeal is a major selling point.

I focus on the "evidence" that I have and try to get the value down as much as possible realizing I am saving approximately $30-35 per thousand.

I have wanted to invest in real estate for years but always found excuses not to, but in the last 6 months I realized that there will always be a reasonable excuse not to do something... this is the year I move past those excuses and naysayers.My goal for investing is twofold, first of all I am looking to build income through rentals.

The police say maybe she didn't realize she hit the car and I found that hilarious because she knew.

I realize setting emotion aside when it comes to personal residence may be difficult but can be important too.As for the tax advantages, I HIGHLY recommend Mark Kohler's book "what your CPA isn't telling you" for better understanding the tax benefits and some really great strategies for owning a rental.

Bigger Pockets has so much valuable info that I signed up over 1.5 months ago, got busy reading, and realized this weekend I never finished my profile nor wrote an intro.

Once that goal is realized, then it's just watching wildlife on the lake and sitting back by the fire.

For me personally I wanted to jump right in and do 30-35 deals my first year, but then realized I should take it a little slower for the first year and really just absorb everything.