There have been three sets of tenants in there, but I have enjoyed three years of rental income.The VA loan backs your mortgage by way of "certificate of eligibility."

A stock certificate is a promise of a tiny portion of company, with no equity, run by someone you don't know.Your properties will still be around in 30 years.  

I appreciate that they are supposedly so thorough with their certifications that an investor doesn't need to verify everything, but any real estate investor who gets into the belief that they should just trust other people is setting themselves up for extremely high risk in my opinion.

It seems to break down to three schools of thought.The first school of thought believes that tenants will appreciate a mid-priced bottle of wine, or a cute gift basket, or a gift certificate to a nice-enough restaurant.

Same Day permit can be requested by either you or a contractor, and cover the gamete of rehab activities including plumbing, electrical, HVAC, etc, but they still require inspection in order to get Certificate of Occupancy.

I'm excited to say that I'm starting my first semester at NYU School of Professional Studies for a Graduate Certificate in Real Estate.

I know of the basic business related expenses that i can deduct, including post licensing and continual educational requirements by the state, seminars, certifications,etc.

If I may say: You may also want to check-out other counties in California that may have more properties to your liking (those not in desert-like zones)--or try other Tax Deed States as well, or a Tax Lien State where you can at least earn interest on your money and if it (the property) is not redeemed then because you have a "priority" Tax Lien Certificate on that parcel, you can foreclose on-it--getting the property Free & Clear.

Need for immediate gratification often leads to investment disaster.If you want a safe, monthly return, by a certificate of deposit or treasury bill.If you want greater return, with greater risk buy a performing mortgage note, or invest in a note fund.For an in between return with in between risk you can try REITs.Of course, limited knowledge and experience increases your risk of failure substantially.

Otherwise why would the national boys be chasing Fl tax certificates at 0.5%, banking on the minimum one time (not annual) 5% return.