I live in New York and therefor it is difficult to do ANYTHING with 100K so I am a bit nervous when it comes to pulling the trigger.

To me, it definitely looks like termite (or some other insect) damage...That said, I'm far from an expert...

Out of state makes me nervous.

It's my first time buying a property so I'm a bit nervous as I have heard of horror stories dealing with renters.

I would love to find some property in Silver Lake, but it is really high priced right now.I have always been nervous being an absentee landlord - it has taken me a long time to get to know LA, and I worry that buying out of state makes me a good target to be "hometowned" by the good ol' boys.

I was nervous to call and ask him if he would like to be my mentor and I would do some grunt work for him, find leads, whatever.

I appreciate you taking the time and thank you for your insight.Yes, I am a little nervous about the thought of tapping the equity in my primary. 

My wife and I were nervous about the evaluations but I was very impressed with how well they did.

Everything else I had to figure out myself.. bought a couple "guru" online courses, sent mail out, figured out that I could pull absentee list for free from tax roles.. when the calls started coming in, I wasn't nervous, I am a people person, so I just had friendly conversations with the sellers more about their situation that causes them to want to sell than actually about the house itself.

(Some mortgage companies may require a wood destroying insect inspection/report, though I have t run into one yet)