My dad has a rental property and he has “helped out” those that couldn’t afford much and has been burned every time.

The analysis spreadsheet was reverse-engineered when I read the post How to Analyze Deals by Jay Scott.

Burn em with fire.

The REAL stuff will smoke when you open the bottle,,,and burn your nose so bad you cant breathe. 

But since then there have been some burn cases and so the companies are more cautious.

I have already been reading and researching to gain the knowledge required to make my first investment purchase and also establish an investment plan for the future.A little bit about myself; I'm 26 years old and work as a engineer in the Energy Corridor of Houston, Tx.

Some people are spending 10 to 20,000 a month or more to find motivated sellersBeing a transaction engineer and looking for other kinds of problems besides Wholesaling problems I think is wise to get startedMy favorite kind of problem for newbies I think is low equity, were you help the sore so I'm terms and make some money generally 3% on a lease option assignmentThe feeling I get from the OP is he thinks that one deal can make him "whole" and get him out of a difficult financial  situationA better plan is to get a job that pays the personal bills and borrow some capital to start a businessThe problem with Wholesaling as your only tool in your toolbox is it takes a long time for Marketing to kick in and many people don't want your offer so there's a lot of rejection in the beginningI like expired listings and talking to Sellers about other ways to sell their house besides cash@Cory Baker

I don't have specific questions yet, but as I continue to get more information and input I am sure I will be burning some ears with questions.I only have one property in MA at this point and my son is handling it for me.  

Hello my name is Alex and I am from Grand Rapids, MI I currently work as a process improvement engineer and have no background in real estate.

I'd like to find out about all of the potential deals on the market and leverage the expertise of many real estate agents as opposed to one but I don't want to burn any bridges at the same time.Advice, please?