I'm in the process of selling my first project and have some down time. 

Looking to purchase my first home and was initially going to go the traditional fixed rate mortgage without buying down points with the assumption rates will go down in the next year or 2 and I will just refinance.

Does it decrease maintenance or speed up your unit turns down the road?

Renos still have a lot of risk, but there are a few less moving parts to nail down.

@Charles PerkinsI am a fan of the slow and steady systematic step by step path to investing success.Many of the gurus say Go Big or Go Home.I say if you are a beginner skier - do you go to the top of the mountain and jump off a cliff going down a black double diamond slope?

If in your position, I woulf sit down with a GOOD loan officer and talk options that align with my goals and see how we can make it happen.

However, real estate values (on a national average) have never gone down over a 10-year period. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MSPUS

Mapping and GIS are great too, but we'll stick to the nuts and bolts here.My question is, with regard to providing high quality, investment-savvy title research, do you also make a habit of jumping down to City Hall or another series of municipal buildings to check for zoning, permitting, and utility issues in addition to your courthouse work?

Well their only option really.Anyway, this is the direction they are heading, and for the moment finding some success.Thank you to BiggerPockets.com, ROCusa.org and the people that are making this possible. 

But please don't let them talk you into cutting down a healthy tree.