Tampa, the young lady started out with a very sketchy lawyer outside of Tampa in Riverview who said he also was the Title Company and did not have a secretary or more than an answering machine to try to get details done for the sale.

We're all gambling with respect to an unknown future. 

My friend fixed up a 4/3 near his home for a lady a few years ago.

Along the way they were even flagrant enough to comment to the neighbors "this lady's got money to burn". 

You say: "Investing" for appreciation is NOT investing, it's speculating (read: gambling).Are you saying almost all stock investing, which is almost entirely based on appreciation is gambling?

Unless you're gambling with timing markets and going big during down times, real estate is a long-term buy-and-hold strategy.

I got my lady on board and she started house hacking before I did, cutting her living expense to a fraction of what they were so she is able to do more of what she wants and having more money in the bank at the end of the day to buy.... more real estate!!

Clean, on trend neutral paint colors and replacing anything with a yuck factor...eg, old lady pattern tile above cooktop can be covered with bohemian Middleaatern style tile decals for an immediate pop of trendiness.

If you're a beginner this is a risky gamble though.

Obviously buying a home without an inspection is a gamble.