Then, I would take a small (or large) portion of my income (from work or other investments) and put it into Vanguard mutual funds.  

Hi All,One of  the properties we are looking to start our REI journey with is a rather large duplex.

If your market is anything like Seattle, you can get paid $20+/hour for doing basic project management help and every large company loves having interns.

If this is your first deal then if it still looks good to you after you double the remodel cost and drop the ARV by 25% then there is probably a large enough margin to make this a decent first attempt. 

There seems to be growing belief that there will be a deflation of prices this year due to big losses in VC funding for tech companies, but I'm curious as to how large a part of our economy that is.  

I just want to reinforce the fact, that this is my personal experience, it is not to say, this is the norm, but I consider myself fairly experienced with a fairly large buying appetite and capacity, trust me I am always looking for deals.

There are a large number of small offices tailored to tenants who need a home sized office but do not want an office at home.

Currently my idea is to find a small multi unit (duplex tri or quad) to buy with an FHA, live in one and rent out the others until I can pay down the mortgage enough to create a cash flow large enough to live on and be able to go into real estate full time and then grow from there. 

Lastly, most large condominium associations and apartment managers are going to require contractors with workers compensation insurance in order to do work on their buildings.

do not get carried away, play conservative on your first deal, leave some room for error.3) Find a qualified and experienced contractor, do not settle for cheapest, you want experience here, because their is a significant administrative burden not only paperwork, proper formatting, but also financial constraint on the contractor as these sometimes have $0 prepayment to contractor.