First of all you need to develope a strategy.

An investor that has skin in the game will be less likely to just walk away when things get tough.If your deal is good enough and you have something to offer, you might be able to get 100% financing.

I'm learning like most of you the real estate investing game.

Barring that having someone who will (do good) work cheap, on the things that are withing their skill level can accomplish the same thing.Even though I lived through the high inflation of the 60s, 70s and 80s I knew that CASH IS KING and paying interest in a sucker's game.

Use these questions to cross check previous questions and answers, to develop your gut feeling, get clarity and root out deception!

Are you prepared to deal with draftsmen and plans development, contractors, building officials and permits?

changing the zoning in an area is not as simple as it may seem there are a lot of steps besides seeking an attorney, it depends on what else is around also most cases you have to make an attempt to contact the surrounding property owners about this request and then it is done at the city counsel meeting and put up for vote.. you must have a plan drawn and engineered for review, the process is long. my husband is a developer in utah the process can take any where fro 6 months to a year and that does not mean the approval, its time and money, take a look and the general plan and proppsed plan for the city in the city planning they can give you a better idea of what the zoning is and possibilities of future changes

i'm new to the game.

You'll be way ahead of the game if you get started now.

I have also owned many businesses:johnmichael: Laundry Mats, Retail Stores, Flea Markets, Convince Stores, Arcades, Rack Merchandising, Mystery ,Mystery shopping Company, Auction Centers, Answering Services, Vending, And the list goes on.johnmichael: Now enough pumping sunshine up my own skirt LOLjohnmichael: Do understand we will be going over the basics and then step by step jump into the more advanced and creative strategies of locating Real Estatejohnmichael: I do want to cover basic investing strategy for new investors; johnmichael: STEP 1 - Buy a piece of real estate under the most favorable terms and conditions possible with as much leverage (OPM--other people's money) as you can.johnmichael: The art of this game is finding moneyjohnmichael: Money is everywhere folksjohnmichael: How many Dr's in your townsDan_Auito: We are gaining strength in that dept as more and more lenders are finding our home herejohnmichael: The are of OPM is just asking for it!