Market rent is at least $1200 on this thing..it'll get there eventually)- DOM were accumulatingAll things that deter demand.No one wanted it because it was hard to visualize it working out.Wrote a "sight unseen" cash offer saying I'd go straight to inspection..wouldn't waste time with a showingInspection revealed the property was in "good enough" condition.House would definitely need cleaned up and updates for a turnover or resale..but already had a paying tenant.Closed the deal. $77,500 cash.Met with the tenant (nice lady and 2 kids) bumped up rent to $1050 (didn't feel like going super aggressive..just didn't need to.

The plan was to eventually get that money of out the equity of the house which  ARV $230k.

Account Closed Ironically I did due diligence on the HOA last year when I bid on the property that I eventually lost.  

So you can do a roll-over to get your balance up to 100K.You can rollover into separate retirement accounts, so you could create an IRA also that could eventually become your Real Estate IRA if you want to go that route.

Duplex #1 - tenant "B" eventually payed last months rent but is late AGAIN this month.

Many of these suck and they're filled with advertisements for other events that suck, BUT there are some amazing people you will eventually meet that will help in unpredictable ways.  

You'll eventually see where you've gone off track.

I'll try not to sound to naïve or just plain ignorant, though I know in starting out that I am needing much info and help.I have identified Buy and Hold as the area I am wanting to specialize in to start.My current goal is to find and buy either:A) A single family house (I will live in it for 1 yr, then use it as a rental, orB) Find a duplex, live in 1 (for 1 yr) and rent the other, then rent both sides.I eventually want to get into a 4-plex and grow from there.Any thoughts, ideas and opinions are greatly appreciated.I have just done the pre-qualification and am now looking for info on finding a good Real Estate Agent that specializes in working with investors.

The negatives with option 1 is that she can probably squeeze another 1-2 months due to our sluggish court system and she can destroy the apartment but I will eventually get her out.

Eventually I realized that preparedness and research are important aspects to success, but I needed to take the next step and take action.