Real Estate Investing

By this time next year, I would like to be the owner of some type of investment property. The two options I'm considering are either a multi-family home where I would live in the basement to maximize rent potential or a handyman special condo I can pick up for cheap, live in, fix up and rent out covering the mortgage and maybe even some passive income. I would tern this into a cycle, beginning a new project only after I have vested 20% of the properties worth and can withdraw those funds, using the house or condo as collateral and buy another investment property.
My plan is to continue with this cycle until rich, all the while shelling money into various other investment vehicles such as the stock market of course.
The key step's in this plan will take place during the next year. I plan to strike at the right moment in order to pick up a depreciated property not only from it's present condition but also taking advantage of the current real estate slump. The other key step is purchasing a mortgage at the perfect time, catching rates at record lows and locking in the rate for 30 years, reaping the benefits of cheap money for a long, long time.
I'm keeping tabs on the mortgage rates almost daily, if rates drop to the point of June 2003 of a national average of 5.21% I may be tempted to lock it in and buy something. I doubt we'll see a situation like the one were in right now (slowing economy, sub-prime crisis, gluten of unsold houses) for a while.

Account Status

Just transfered the funds received through my tax refund to my e*trade account. I'm currently making 3.45% interest on the money which is a whole percent less then e*trade was initially giving out but interest rates are going down and everyone is decreasing their rates so this comes as no surprise.
I've been playing with the funds in my virtual optionsXpress account at the same time as realizing how hard investing in the market is. I'm also learning a ton and loving it. I'm keeping a close eye on Anheuser-Busch at the moment.

Not Sure If I Need This

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The information provided on this site is not financial advice and I am not a financial professional. This is a journal that details my investments, strategy, and analysis for personal use. Feel free to read at your own risk.

Paper Trading

For the past few months I've been attempting to track my performance picking stocks through Yahoo's online portfolio account. The online account is basic at best and leaves much to be desired. Recently I stumbled across optionsXpress online paper trading system which I find to be far superior and provides great practice for a rookie like me. Their web site also provides a plethora of investment training material for those seeking trading enlightenment as well as stocks and options trading services. I haven't used any of their pay services yet and may, depending on their broker fees.
Right now I'm practicing selling covered calls and basically just trying to get my feet wet trading options since I never have. Probably won't put in any real money until I fully understand what it is I'm doing.
If anyone had any advice please leave a comment!