Once I see how much house I qualify for with a lender it definitely may be smarter to wait rather than rush in a property in an area I'm not familiar with.Thank you everyone for your advice and warm welcome!

Breakdown below:Expenses: Mortgage, Taxes Insurance   $940Electricity and Gas:                            $200Internet:                                            $60Water:                                               $60Reserves:                                            $240Total costs:     $1500Now, I did have to buy furniture and rush to get it ready, but after this initial 3 month visit is over, the majority of those costs will have been paid for, and any new bookings after May will just need to cover the $1500 a month or so in recurring expenses.

Can you advise as to whether I should just take my $1000 loss (earnest money) and move on to the next deal, or whether to follow through.

i have experience in rehab and construction and i own several units that i self manage. i also have full time job where i do shift work 12 hours a day on a texas swing shift schedule. i can work as many hours as i want basically. but it takes toll on my body. i make a living doing what I'm doing and i have insurance and the 401(k)( not much but something). i want to save enough cash as a cushion and quit my job and work with him. the cushion number is debt free except house and rentals. it will take about 6 months. there is no rush. what are some things i should be thinking about and set in place before i quit my job?

I'm contemplating the best approach to start gaining real life experience in the RE business.Right out of college, I rushed into purchasing a completely remodeled SFH.

It was the weirdest thing I have ever experienced… They rush our office with 3 State employees, make my office call me (I was not at the office at the time), I drive back to the office from an hour away, cancel the meeting I was getting ready to go into, while they all wait at my office for me… My staff basically left the building and fled for their lives as they were all wondering what the heck was going on.

Welcome to the family @Graham Rushing as the others have states BP is a resource like no other and I really can't think of anything you would need in investing portfolio that you can't find right here at BP.

Because once that trend becomes clearly visible it will become a self-fulling prophecy when the "big money" comes rushing in. 

(In a rush?

Not even I rush to pay those off.