Couple of comments. A) Now is a GREAT time to get into Real Estate. You can find steals, like Martin's $1.2M pad for $700k (less another $100k for market downturn plus closing, of course ;-)).
My wife is also a big fan of "flip this POC". What you don't see is the associated costs of flipping (which have been mentioned- mortgage or draft, utilities, insurance, etc.)
The two things that scare me about your post (really, they scare me) are she cashing out retirement savings and she doesn't have a RE license.
If you're buying real Estate, use someone else's money. Also, a successful flip will bring you 6-10% after it is all said and done. Bring in a RE Agent and there goes 6%. There is a lot of entertainment in the TV shows, but some truth if you look for it. You will notice ALL of the flip specialists in the TV shows are brokers- not agents, but full brokers.
If you are going to do this (more fortunes have been made in RE than any other business), buy and flip with (mostly) someone else's money, at the very least get your RE license, and do it quick. If it can't be on the market in 29 days, it isn't a deal... (P.S. make friends with a state licensed RE Inspector -ask me how I know!)
