The neighbors were incredibly thankful we bought the house and told me stories of regular police raids and zombie like people meandering around late at night.The roof had been done 9mo prior by what i can only guess were blind teenagers without thumbs...it was terrible.

Also remember the income from a REIT is taxed as regular income whereas if you own actual real estate assets you have tax advantaged income due to depprecitaion of the builing and the equity gain you get from the tenants paying down your loan is tax free.

5. i was SO beat down (along w/some very poor herd mentality investments in other things) that i am now committing @Will Barnard 's other mistake of spending 4yrs - currently in 2nd year - of wanting/planning to get back on the horse before really doing it (again). 6. working backwards from goal to action steps and committing each day or regular period time per week towards attainment of that goal - while consistently networking... working on that now... :) 7. and lastly... knowing the numbers, the market, the area, and the numbers - practical and on paper.

They were purchases off the MLS, one was a short sale and the other a regular listing that needed a lot of work.

if you see a house about to be rehabbed, chances are that investor does repetitive moves and has a regular team.go in the house and get the contractor name and contact info (just be sure the flipper is not there) and/or write down the name of the licensed guys listed on the permits. call the village & ask for their contact info or just googled it.if the permit is a GC or construction company, don't even bother - they just farm it out or have employees.

I know I use a regular sales agreement with an option period to tie up the house.

Realize the things a lot of people say can be done theoretically, but in practice is a real pain in the rear and no Realtor wants to work with you.I have taken enough boot camps in the past and spend enough money on the gurus promoting no money down easy money creative finance deals.

I'm also a Realtor and locally my focus is with regular home buyers.

You have to make regular ( at least quarterly) and substantially level payments back to your Solo(k).

To rank organically (non-paid traffic) on Google you need to be adding quality content to your site regularly.