First time home buyer in Maine

[MTC Enterprises]

Snowbunny-
You mention a "passion" for real estate.........  You also present your household as quite comfortable, with your other half making a minimum of $60,000 and yourself being a "self employed" Ivy Leaguer with multiple degrees. 

From a practical standpoint, the first time homebuyer program has income caps.  Furthermore, there is a minimum amount of time (at least 2 years) that you must live in the property to avoid recapture of the interest saved with this loan.

My advice, having been in the business and living here in central Maine for over 5 years, is to learn as much as you can, and then see if you still have this "passion" after actually doing it.  Find a property with a good upside, buy it, and fix it up before putting it back on the market.

It makes no sense to me why you would continue to rent your own house/apartment and seek unconventional methods of purchasing investment properties.  It's putting the cart before the horse.

The wonderful thing about the business I'm in....  it doesn't matter where you OR I went to school or any other pedigree..... my reputation is built on my balls and my word... and I'm not so naive as to believe that you can survive in this business without putting ANY of your own ass or cash on the line.

I truly believe that sustained success in this business requires full commitment and an aversion to schemes.