A buddy of mine in college became a broker and we recently reconnected.I asked him about real estate investing and told him I am looking strictly for bargains, etc.His advice was "always buy your own place first before you start investing in rental property.

We also have a very large mortgage on our personal residence.

I purchase a short sale home as my primary residence for 189k just over 4 months ago.

My local Realtors must win over 80% of all the listings in my neighborhood just because they keep in touch and engage with the residents.

I never even saw a primary residence loan program that was 100% No Doc.

You're looking for a primary residence, not an investment property.

When a neighborhood gets sloppy yard care and lots of student flags and beer kegs, older residents move out and even investors will buy.

@Jason F my buddy is redoing the exterior of his place in plymouth ma in cedar. he got a quote and a catalog of cedar siding and i think the shingle panels from michigan prestain. it looks really good. good luck!

Hey guys wasn't sure what forum to put this in, but anyways. . .At the moment I have 2 rental units and things are going very well.I am planning on selling my actual residences here soon.

Jmac,Just as you would for your persoanl residence, when getting a loan on a residential RE property, you are signing loan docs "personally guarantee" the loan.