The rest think it's too risky.When it comes to hiring real estate agents I've observed all kinds of irrational behavior.On the agent side...well, the average real estate agent is not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

For now I’d advise you to save your money and keep studying books and learning more about real estate.

I am looking to be more active in real estate investing primarily in shorter term fix and flips. 

Many who have invested passively in real estate the past few years are in deals not going well and they are much more risk averse and are doing a lot more due diligence (unfortunately from lessons learned from not doing it previously)Plus as mentioned risk free return vs risk adjusted return does not make it very enticing for investorsWhen it gets to deploying capital we have more deals than we know what to do with.

Before you have clarity in what you want to buy, I think you need clarity on what your goals are not just for real estate but in terms of how you want you life to look.

In real estate, you make money four different ways:1.

View report*This link comes directly from our calculators, based on information input by the member who posted.Just looking at getting into real estate investing.

@John Boutros The only think that comes to mind is private lenders or trying to find small, local banks and credit unions who are willing to lend.

I still flip and network in SJ, personally I'd want to have a experienced real estate attorney for an eviction.

If you could find a duplex property (or a single family house that could be turned into a duplex--check any HOA restrictions first), or a "fixer upper" to live in, that could be a better use of the equity you have in the rental house.If you run the numbers and decide it makes sense to sell the rental house (check with your accountant, figure out closing costs to selling and buying) then you'll possibly have more money to put towards a primary residence.You may want to check the neighborhoods that fall in the school district you want to stay in and look in "under appreciated" areas...maybe not the A class neighborhoods, but ones that have potential of becoming "improved".While I understand your desire to stay in a particular school district, it's not the end of the world to consider other districts if they will allow you to build real estate/family wealth that will put your entire family tree in a better position."