"Really small" still means sinking tens of thousands of dollars and carrying a note for half a year. Again: is it not wiser to invest capital like that into something you understand? With large market forces at play, six month swings of ten and fifteen percent are not unusual... And there are large market forces at play. Real estate investment isn't particularly tricky. You sink capital into real property because real property appreciates long term. Real estate speculation is another matter: you're banking on 50k and 10k being worth 90k because you need it to, not because it has any reason to. And at those prices you're competing against sweat equity, which doesn't pay contractors and is willing to undersell you in order to get out from under their ARM. Dunno, dude. Buy rentals or commit to doing this stuff fer real. Half-hearted measures are a great way to lose money.