Fee transparencyAsk about:Management fee structureRenewal feesMaintenance markupsLeasing feesHidden fees are where many investors get burned.5.

It’s a good way to navigate a tight market like Staten Island without burning months chasing deals that were never viable.

Over the last three years, I crashed and burned A LOT, but I have also had some pretty big wins.

But here’s the order you want to follow so you don’t burn time or money:1.

Builders could charge more because buyers were willing to pay for something turnkey, modern, and low-maintenance.That relationship has now flipped.John Burns Research shows the new-build premium has gone negative for the first time in modern tracking.

To answer your question on what I wish I knew earlier: Never trust the "Estimated Repair Cost" on a wholesaler's flyer.A lot of new investors get burned because they assume the renovation budget is $30k, when in reality (especially in older East Atlanta homes), it’s closer to $60k.

An unfocused one burns out.

If you start shopping around after youre under contract, you will likely do two things: burn your relationship with whatever lender youre using, and invite a bait and switch problem from a new lender. 

Quote from @Vikas Jain: Yes, I have already seen the buy-in, im less concerned about that part of it, but just want to make sure its legitimate (plenty of opportunities where buyin is high but it doesn't always mean the product is good, just been burned in the past by others so trying to do better due diligence this time around)Their success rate, as of now, is 100 percent.

Plenty of seasoned operators have run the numbers, managed C and D class properties and have decided the time, stress and maintenance burn rate simply aren’t worth the cash flow on paper.Sometimes the volatility is baked into the asset because the environment around that asset drives tenant behavior, maintenance demand and long-term appreciation potential.Not every investor is “walking past opportunity.”