Dear Bao:Oh so much spot on and wicked great advice above.I want to add that cap rates and pricing in our market is being chased by stoopid money.We currently have a mini bubble being driven by Hedge Fund buying, spring, and just plain inexperienced players.A great many of my colleagues and I are stepping to the sidelines and waiting for the fallout.I would key on the advice from the very wise Emily Dixon, Ned Carey, and Joel Owens and add to that overpriced valuations.We are in this together, ping me and lets get you set up with our REI group up in Santa Clarita.Blessings,Tevis

I got a killer deal thanks to the help of @Mark Updegraff, who's been invaluable in starting my REI business and assembling a team of professionals that is a pleasure to work with.As someone who is very driven and loves to self-teach, real estate provides a great medium for investment while not detracting from my day job.

So it boils down to confidence in my analysis and domain knowledge.7) Rationally, math is math and unless I made a horrible mistake in one or more assumptions, the numbers do not lie. 8) In my current analysis/screening of properties/deals I am looking for a) positive cashflow;b) operating expense ratio <50%; c) debt coverage >=1.5;d) PE <3;e) Cash-on-Cash of 10-12+;f) BER <=75 (80 at the max)g) I tend not to be driven terribly by the CAP rate if the cash-on-cash is good - in the local market it is extremely rare to find a multi-unit with a CAP >7.5 to 9In our analysis we use an opportunity cost of 8%; a maintenance & CAPX set aside of 10%; and assume a vacancy rate of 8.33% (1 month in 12) ... we try to be conservative9) I do realise that while the above ratios have been fine for us, they may not be sufficient for a potential private money financier.

Through the research I've been doing and blog posts and podcast from BP (especially the one with Jay Scott) I've decided that getting my real estate license would be an excellent first step for me, as A) I can continue to save while I'm taking the course for capital and B) give me more understanding of the real estate game from a different angle.Question I'm coming up with is this, is it worth taking a in class course or would the online version by long & foster be sufficient?

Ask your attorney to give the specific statute to which he/she is referring. a. Is

Executive SummaryApanou Management, LLC was created by two self-driven business partners that saw the potential in the current Real Estate market and would like to make a difference as well.

I see a return to slow, inflation-driven price appreciation.

While I think its quite dumb to be buying a house for that much your first time (especially in the bubble that is DC), but banks will do it for those guys, why would they look at a profit-driven investor of the same age and think its a higher risk?

I love doing what I do, and I would not trade places with anyone, nor trade my life experiences for anyone else’s.I am driven by the belief that life is short, and we need to ‘make a difference’ in the short time that we’re here, because after all is said and done, it’s really not about ‘us.’I am a Real Estate Investor.

Only a handful of wholesalers will survive this summer, with the market so heavy with newbie's and the educated public only the most driven will stick around.