A few key things I’d have your inspector and maybe even a structural engineer check before moving forward:Foundation and structural integrity – Digging out a basement can impact footing depth and wall support.

You may not always be able to negotiate a perfect purchase price to make every number line up, but this approach gives you clarity.

Unless you have a perfectly flat floor, the floating floor is going to flex as people walk on it, put furniture on it, etc, and the worse true your floor is the better that locking system has to be to keep the planks from coming apart.

Excel is perfect for your first project.You don’t need fancy software yet, a clean sheet that tracks:• Budget vs actual• Invoices/receipts• Category (materials, labor, holding costs, etc.)• What’s capitalized vs expensed• What’s part of unamortized loan costsOnce you set it up, staying organized becomes way easier.2.

Start smaller if you need to.A duplex, fourplex, or two side-by-side duplexes is a perfect first BTR project.

@Jason MalabuteWe recorded a podcast with Ivan about six months ago, and although he may have used bridge financing in a couple deals, the way he's scaled his company and the fact that he is vertically integrated gives me the feeling that thesis going to be in this business for the long term, and focuses heavily on operations.Here's a link to his show --> https://jakeandgino.com/real-estate-wisdom-lessons-from-ivan...Gino

Just perfect, relentless follow-up.These two simple automations are already closing more deals.Investors who aren’t using Voice AI right now are at a huge disadvantage over those who are, in operations, experience, and data.

Get really good at running flip numbers (doesn't have to be perfect, just conservative + buffers) 5.

Since you’re new, focus first on learning how to analyze deals and understand what a solid investment looks like—Brandon Turner’s The Book on Rental Property Investing and David Greene’s Long-Distance Real Estate Investing are great places to start, and both align perfectly with what’s working in markets like Memphis right now.

Great to have you here and love your openness to learning — that’s going to take you far in real estate.One thing I wish I had known earlier: don’t chase perfect deals, chase repeatable ones.