However, it's important to note that the reason most personal finance gurus recommend paying cash is because this strategy involves significant levering.

hi jeremy. i would agree with bill. i would bet the downspout was draining right next to the foundation which is completely against the whole point of a downspout. you want to devert water away from the house, not dump huge amounts of water right next to the house......lol. i would have to say, from a home inspectors point of view, the water has probably eroded the soil beneath the footing and caused the footing to collapse, allowing the foundation to crack and collapse with it. you could get away with just tuck pointing it, but it will come back. the repairs could be extensive and expensive and jacking the house could be involved. it could also involve a small area of the footing/ foundation and allow you to rebuild just that area too. hard to say without actually being there. check with a local structural engineer and weigh the costs verses the value of the house. after all, thats what real estate investing gets down to. good luck to you

We don't have "housing courts" in our area, so I took a moment to look up what that was in Massachusetts and found this: "The Massachusetts housing courts were established to handle cases involving residential housing.

@Roy @Roy MitleIf you have been investing or involved in real estate before and after the melt down that the economy suffered, then you know banks can change.  

I've read up on a number of success stories that involve investments which you can live in for some time and later flip.

Hi all, as the title describes, I am determined to get involved with real estate investing but I have a serious lack of cash flow because I am a college student.

I've been involved (did some project management for my father's business) where we had an investor who fully funded a couple of house flips.  

@Douglas Dowell A quid-pro-quo lending arrangement such as you suggest would also be a prohibited transaction if the IRS were to see that - which if they audited either individual they most likely would.It is best when working with IRA funds to avoid any situation where you are thinking "it sure would be nice if I could use IRA funds for this deal I'm involved in".  

As I now know BP message boards exist, I intend to full advantage of that fact by reaching out to the community.As I become more involved here, I would just ask that everyone be patient with me as I ask ALOT of questions.

You're spot on with that approach, but determining the outcome (accurately factoring in the profit potential and required time) clearly involves some significant experience - not the kind of thing I should attempt to plan for.