I reached financial independence through the stock market some years ago and am now looking to build up a second income stream through real estate investing.

Independence is compromised when a borrower recommends an appraiser or a person to perform an evaluation.

I was informed that since I am a physician, it would be difficult to prove, in the event of an audit, that I do more hours of work as a real estate professional than I do as a physician.  

The state can & does do audits on Property Manager's bank accounts so this is a great safeguard for you.You can open a separate account that is only used for the purposes of receiving deposits from your Property Manager.

I have $40k in savings that I’m looking to invest to get me on the right track of becoming financially independent.

I'm writing this post to give some type of relief as well as a  road map to those getting started in the business of real estate to look back on and relate to others on their first steps towards financial independence.

I've agreed to charge him half month's rent to break the lease and I want it paid independently of the security deposit.

There are several, but the "New Haven Register" is the main local newspaper, the "New Haven Independant" is blog that covers local community news & events.

As Chris mentioned, you have certain fixed costs that are independent of the loan amount and thus disproportionately affect your returns.

I’ve been doing property management, building fixing and holding for near 40 years - the last 20 years independently.