We just bought our first duplex as well, and we're planning to save the cash it generates (in addition to some owner contributions), and put this towards our next one as a down payment. 

If there is anyone Local to my area of Lawrence, MA that would like to pass on some hands on knowledge and have someone that is hardworking and willing to use whatever skills I have to contribute.

I think there are a bunch of reasons for this, massive unemployment, insane amounts of student loan debt and myriad new business regulations certainly contribute to it.  

most online site i visited wanted a high fee.one i called wanted between $350-$3000 If it were me, I'd keep contributing for a while before self-directing.  

By joining this forum I can already see that the knowledge from everyone on here is invaluable and I hope to make contributions to help someone else learn, while also giving back to my community.

Net Profit Margin (20.8%) = net Profit (1.5M) / sales price (7.2M)When analyzing for Return, that is a little more involved and usually takes into account each individual players' contribution, the timeframe to get the money back and the amount of profit for that player.  

As a way to get started investing, you have to decide how much time you have to contribute to your endeavors and what level of comfort you have with allowing another company to make all of the decisions about your property for you.  

.), you must contribute one of the following to get a deal done:Land (The Deal): You can locate a really good deal, conduct the due diligence, draft the investment summary, locate a reputable property manager, obtain debt financing quotes and raise equity to close the transaction.Labor (The Expertise/Property Management):You can locate a capital partner who has a deal and provide property management services to increase the value and generate an attractive return to investors. 

Happy to be hear and hope soon I can contribute to the site.

For a very small HOA with only a couple capital components, that may not be an issue but for anything more complicated, the board may want to consider hiring a company.Should the board decide to move forward with doing it in-house, I usually suggest that they get a price from a contractor to do the job today, estimate how much longer the component has until replacement and add 3% per year to the cost to budget for reserve contributions.