That is how I was taught and am still doing while building up to larger assets.You also have significantly more supply of properties to choose from and can use the government backed loans initially to get started.

For all you bears, consider this: the real estate market in 2008 is less regulated than it is today, and barriers of entry as an investor or homeowner are higher than before. 

They will also make sure that your contract complies with local laws and regulations.  

The government takes a part of my check for child support.

I'm not saying a lack of checks and balances in government will lead to some kind of simplistic doom.

This won't be an owner-occupied property.Few of the major banks I talked with said that minimum for multi-family is 25% down, which is governed by Fannie Mae regulations.I'd appreciate if you can recommend someone who can do this type of loan and close within 45 days.Thanks!

UNLESS you personally live in that property, you are operating a ROOMING facility and come under the State regulations for Hotels / Motels ....IMO, think again.

The one bullet point non-detailed summary of who is likely to end up on one of those financial, mortgage, and real estate type crimes - to include non-felonies.In terms of timing, I just pulled a random file up from a closed transaction in Oakland, and the database checks were run 5 days after I submitted the file as a matter of course with no particular rush request or anything, which tells me that if it was going to be an issue then this borrower would have known in time for their earnest money to be protected by the loan contingency, but after they've spent a grand on appraisal and inspection.When someone volunteers that they are concerned about mysterious government watch lists, we run that check at the preapproval stage.

Arizona state law will govern the contract, and laws tend to vary from state to state.

The housing area is ripe for similar approaches, building on similar legal theories and laws governing public benefits, child welfare, mental health and other programs.