Note from Paula: This is the final installment of my three-part series about my building my real estate empire, one lopsided rotting house at a time. Check out Part 1 -- House-Hunting -- and Part 2 -- Funding -- before you read this conclusion. **** NOTE: This article was last updated in 2014 (and all numbers reflect that year). **** More than 2,000 years ago, Roman statesman Cicero said that “refusing to set aside trivial preferences” is one of mankind's most common mistakes. Clearly Cicero was a landlord. I've been a renter my entire adult life. So when I bought