Do you actually have time for a real estate education, time to study and learn?

You also need to check ALL the financial documents, including year end (fiscal) reports and Reserve Fund study and related information.

Most studies show that all expenses are going to be around 50% of MARKET RENTS.

According to an Econohomes study, most distressed property investors make less than $100,000 a year.

war zone area is a very arguable term, what I see as a war zone might be different then what you consiter, or what some non real estate person living in a 300k house in chicago, as they would probablly consiter it a war zone just because they wouldnt live there.. , although i know nothing about chicago, what makes this specific area a war zone?

i flipped a home in a new construction area last spring...i had 3 offers in the first 2 days on market..as mark says, i put all the amentities in that new builders had done, but offered at a fraction of the price..in most cases, builders spend tons of money studying shitfting demographics and where people are wanting to move in a city..you can piggyback on their research by flipping homes in new construction areas

Having said that, I'd consider flipping a condo over renting one personally, due to the exact reasons Russell mentions above so your client may be OK, depending on the association.If your client does decide to invest in condos for the long term, I would strongly encourage her to make sure the association has a recent (no more than 7 years old) reserve study that breaks out the yearly reserve contribution and make sure the association is budgeting at least that amount, if not more.

I have read several studies over the years that have looked at tax rates and the economy, and as I recall, none of them were able to link high or low taxes to an overall stronger economy.

To me, my rental is not so much an economic case study as it is an appreciation too and, god willing, one day a cash flow generator as well.

When we sell our home, we will have a year and a half of living expenses in the bank and are contemplating making the move to the San Diego area.My training and experience is in law enforcement and I’ve studied my job options in SoCal, which look fairly promising (it’s just tough to land a cop job out of state without living in the area).