Well maintained Excel if perfectly acceptable for many tax firms.

I was not serving as a “preacher” of any church or religious organization at the time of my activities with CALM and never represented myself to anyone connected with CALM as a past, present, or future “preacher” for the purpose of giving me credibility or gaining someone’s confidence.

Luis, lead with credibility you already have: publish a simple one‑pager story, your valuation skillset, and a tight buy box, then share weekly micro‑case studies of real deals you’ve underwritten to attract investor conversations; offer value first by bringing vetted opportunities or handling due diligence/PM ops in exchange for a fair split; stack warm intros at Chicago meetups and online investor groups, ask for two referrals per call, and keep a consistent update cadence; next step today: pick one market, underwrite five live listings, post your numbers for feedback, and DM three potential partners with your one‑pager and those deals.

We have our credibility dialed in.

A smaller deal gives you credibility and proof of concept, which helps attract investors later.What kind of value add projects are you most comfortable taking on?

I was not serving as a “preacher” of any church or religious organization at the time of my activities with CALM and never represented myself to anyone connected with CALM as a past, present, or future “preacher” for the purpose of giving me credibility or gaining someone’s confidence.

For investing principles and deal analysis, The Book on Rental Property Investing by Brandon Turner is excellent, it covers cash flow, evaluating deals, and basic financing strategies.

Most people respect honesty way more than fake confidence.Curious though — for those of you who’ve been around this space a while, what was the hardest part of building credibility when you were starting out? 

Since multiple phone calls are made by the bank, late notices are mailed out, every month for months, and with the requirement that banks try to do a loan modification, saying they didn't know is not credible.

Build a detailed budget and timeline to show lenders you’ve done your homework, and consider partnering with an experienced builder who can help strengthen your loan application and credibility.