Are there brokerages worth joining that don't come with monthly brokerage fees? 

There’s a difference between price data and behavior data.Price data lags.Behavior shows up first.Right now, behavior is flashing.Google searches for “can’t sell house” have surged to the highest level in over a decade.That’s not inventory talking.That’s frustration talking.Now stack that on top of the hard numbers.Nationally:– Pending home sales just printed an all-time low going back to 2021.– There are materially more sellers than buyers in the market. 600,000 more home sellers than buyers.

Even with credit card stacking you would have maybe 9-18 months of 0% interest before the 26% would kick in.

Tax liens come with redemption periods (varies by state), title issues, and often weird liens stacked on top.

I have a HOA who is attempting to collect HOA fees for the period when the prior owner owned it.

Stack that with higher taxes from reassessment at purchase and you've added $400-500/month in carrying costs that have nothing to do with your contractor or your lender.

Great topic — ground-up projects can produce strong margins, but execution risk is where many investors get caught off guard.From the builder/developer side, the biggest challenges we consistently see are:1️⃣ Site Work UnknownsFill, compaction, drainage, and soil conditions can shift budgets quickly — especially in markets where lot conditions vary significantly.2️⃣ Utilities & Impact FeesWater/sewer access, well/septic requirements, and local impact fees are often underestimated during underwriting.3️⃣ Environmental FactorsProtected species, wetlands, and flood elevation requirements can affect both timelines and build costs.4️⃣ Permit TimelinesApproval periods — particularly when civil or environmental reviews are involved — can extend holding costs beyond initial projections.5️⃣ Builder Execution CapacityProject success often comes down to the operator’s systems, trade relationships, and cycle times — not just the numbers on paper.Because of these hurdles, we’re seeing more investors lean toward ready-to-build projects — where feasibility, plans, and permitting are already in progress or completed — as a way to reduce entitlement risk and shorten timelines.Ground-up can be extremely rewarding, but the upfront diligence and execution planning are what ultimately determine outcomes.Always happy to compare notes with other investors and builders working through similar projects.

The numerous pop-up windows load slowly, and ACH fees for outgoing payments are $1 each, which adds up quickly.It's particularly frustrating that I have to manually create and apply a bill for maintenance fees to each property every month.

One thing I would add from working with investor operators is that tools matter far less than sequencing and clarity.I see people stack CRMs, dialers, skip tracing, and automation before they are clear on who they are targeting, what stage that lead is in, and what the next logical action actually is.

I picked up rentals with PCS moves, learned property management the hard way, and kept stacking reps.