But you must pick a sector within that.

If you get a pressure reading at the meter, and then inside the house while the water is flowing, you may be able to determine if its the supply line.  

I also have an interest in stocks and have finally picked up a small nest egg to throw that way.

That will determine what you need to go through.

I have wanted to delve into REI for a while and finally determined it is time to do so.

Of course, these require you to physically pick up the money.

I also suggest selecting one area of real estate investing that picks your interest the most at this time and learning as much as possible about it before investing.

My point is pick the right property class for your budget (probably SFR), invest in the right neighborhoods if you want a good PM, and be prepared to move super fast (no analysis paralysis). 

So I'm thinking about getting a hard money loan and picking up these higher-end properties and just farm out the fix work and skip the houses with really bad problems...but ones with normal problems I can probably get done.I did 35 flip but I'm 70 years old ...in good condition....and I wonder, do you think the bigger projects will work out.  

Had you already picked a location prior to starting your 30 days?