I don't really have any interest in investing in single family homes and I know exactly what I want to gain from this experience.

heather, so sorry this happened to you. this was very unselfish of you to post your unfortunate loss. it wakes up investors eyes & maybe even scare some away.having reserves is very important. a lot of peeps will just blow the $ every month to cover their personal spending. throughout this post you have definitely listed the realities of landlording. maybe you could start a LL reality show & gain back your loss that way?

Fellow Biggerpocketers (Yes it's a word..Lol)I've been reading here on Bigger Pockets for the past 2 years and have gained some valuable knowledge along with getting some much needed advice on a couple of investments that I'm sure I had no business even looking at.

@Bill Gulley, that would mean that it's the greatest job gain since Ronald Reagan was in office.

Army and when we went to Fort Irwin for a 30 day military exercise - individuals usually gained about 10 pounds.

Seems to me the short term capital gains tax would eat up a large portion of your profits.

If you are wanting to produce an income your family can live on I would suggest having more rental cash-flow than monthly expenses to gain true financial freedom.

You could potentially end up paying a massive 40% of your profits because of capital net gains.

You'll gain more credibilty that way making volume of selling 2-3 houses a month and making 3K per deal.

I enjoy a modest passive income which I have been pouring back into the business.