Mistakes and fear are pretty normal.  

One way to protect yourself from the downturns that are certain to happen during normal ebb and flow would be to lock that rate in.

Learn to become a good investor and invest where you can apply your skills the most effectively, efficiently, and profitably, which is normally in your own backyard.

Mainly short business trips, convention center events or people visiting children at CSULB.Now comes the fun zoning laws:Zoning & Rental Laws: House is R-1N, residential single family on normal lot. 21.51.270 - Room rental.The conditions listed below shall apply to all room rentals.

I saw a new one out there called SoFi that has a bunch of flexibility on the normal traditional pitfalls maybe look into them?

@Margaret Grigsby first off, making money off of the necessities of every day life is so normal.

Also, can you buy foreclosures with bank financing or are they normally cash only?

Once I upgraded the interior, and rooms, and started to attract a better quality of tenant than the previous owner, things ran smoother, people stayed longer (6 mos-1 yr), and it became a cash cow vs it's normal use as a duplex.  

I have been investing since 2001 and went through the roller coaster of 2008 crash,  made money, lost money and came out OK. over the years, I had two evictions sued by tenant once and tenant lost in small claims court.

Title companies normally act as escrow agents making certain the money and property transfers both happen.Issues about the condition of the property are the biggest source of problems.