If you let your emotions and excitement get the best of you, you'll lose and overbid.the downfall you can't see inside, but some smart investors know how to get inside and if your worry about squatter then make sure you drive by at night to see if any lights are on.Getting deals on auctions are great and wholesalers go to auctions all the time to purchase 10 properties at once and reassign it before closing.I plan to purchase all my properties via auctions, so far I purchase one and got emotional but ended up wining when it was flipped

HaSecond, I have a hard time taking my emotions out of the deal so I will try to do this for you! 

The next tenant you get simply  avoid forming a emotional attachment to and strictly inforce all rules, if you choose, without having the weakness of your emotions interfering with your business.

I'm looking into purchasing in idaho, I hear there are good returns there. the kitchens are bad, the precis owners did not screen well, and there is damage paint can't fix. they work, but I don't like them, so maybe it's an emotional thing I need to let go of. 

Either way there are times you will lose money, be it due to bad judgement, emotions, markets, under calculating repairs or over estimating ARV.

I will not get emotionally attached to a deal or house.

We purchased our first home (which is now a rental) near the top of the market in 2006, and i'm very concerned that the market may be nearing another temporary peak.

They are high risk and not reliable, arrangement such as this are temporary at best.

Getting my license definitely would NOT be the best use of my time as it would be a temporary distraction taking me from what I love most...investing.Thanks SO  MUCH for your advise and book recommendations!

Michael<Both Mark and Jeff have given you some good advise.I would emphasize the out clauses.I have been in partnerships in the early days that ended poorly do to no out clause, these were defiantly ready fire aim deals.I have also been in successful partnerships that ended well because the time was taken to think through and write out as many out scenarios as we could.Usually when a partnership ends the emotions can be running high and if it isn't written the memory tends to be pretty short.