Save money for awhile.The easiest way you might start is trying to position yourself to buy a small SF house, live in it, make the improvements over time and in two years take the gain tax free.

It is a bet on appreciation where there is no guarantee that past performance will continue into the future.

Hence a well placed property with a moderate amount of leverage will generally out perform a CD.

the more you go the more comfortable you will become and your confidence will improve over time.Remember, you will never learn to swim without getting your feet wet.

When I evaluate the deal as a package it looks pretty good, but when I break each unit out and run the numbers several are falling short because the rents are below market.My question is, how do you evaluate this deal, both ways as I am, then go back and get a better price on the low performers or do you simply look at the big picture or do I factor in that the rents have to come up to meet the market?

Doesn't meet my criteria.But hey- you bought it, knowing damned well you couldn't pay for it...or...cashed it out...not to improve, but to go on vacation....Now you're stuck, and I cant even help....but I will be there when the bank resells it, cause at this point in time at least the bank knows they made a bad decision, and you may not have the equity to sell at a loss, but hey - the bank can.

What are some creative ways to improve the cashflow?

He really has carved out a niche allowing him to perform almost all functions in-house, creating leads off of every call.Anyhow the initial plan was to get me started as a Loan Originator, then once I was familiar with that end of things I could grab a property and he would walk me through the process.

Come up with the maximum price you can pay, and don't go over that.Conventional financing will certainly improve the results.

We're working on some big improvements right now, and I will see if this is something we can implement in the stages following this current development stage.Please keep the suggestions coming!