Before my first venture, I spent hours and hours analyzing deals, evaluating every what-if angle imaginable and accomplished nothing but creating anxiety and allowing profitable deals slip through my fingers.

Even at 100k all in that's still 60K+ in profit!

Michal Sieczka, here's my advice to newbies.Work for an experienced investor and agreed to be paid commission or profit split.The experience you will get is much more valuable than all the real estate seminars you will attend.

(Needless to say, this is not-for-profit and so there is no membership fees...just the cost of lunch and gas).For example, I volunteer to help anyone who is interested in wholesaling houses and buying apartment buildings.With so many Chicagoans joining BP, I think this meetup group will have enough critical mass to be of valuable help to its members.Thoughts?

For hazardous waste removal and other junk fees.My rule of thumb these days is to allow -20% profit on a major systems job (roofing, AC replacement)-$2-$2.25 per sq ft of fooring (Tile Hardwood)-$175per day/$25 hour/ per man for painting and handyman workI guess if a plumber can get $500 an hour then more power to him, but hes not getting that from me.And I can relate to your plumber story.

It makes sense that there are lots of variables that might affect whether the deal will be profitable.

My question is: Should I use the profit from our condo sale to buy a house or buy a rental property and then rent a house for us?

One reason is that in CA for example if you have $40k to use you can't afford anything there so they buy in markets where they can get a profitable deal.

In real estate if we see value where others don't and then are able to provide value to others for a profit then I think it is a respectable way to make money.

In general, if you can find a great deal, you should be able to find the money for that deal; worst case, you should be able to wholesale that deal to someone who has money, and use the profit to start building up your nest egg (for future deals).