This is the season of your life where you can take the stress and use it to build long-term momentum.

Quality of life matters too.  

Any ideas, proof of concept, or real life stories you wish to share?

But you can also make tons of money and it can change your life and your family tree.

I would agree with your Dad--your job right now is to get the best grades you can, and learn as much as you can; that education will serve you the rest of your life.

Do your real estate goals dovetail with your life goals and if so what are they and in what ways do you think that real estate will help you to accomplish them?  

I can appreciate you not wanting to make the Seller's life difficult.

Anyone who keeps rent (well) below market rates deserves to have the government come in with rent caps and force you to continue to offer discounts for the life of the property.  

As in all things in life (like choosing a spouse)for instance, it's incumbent upon us to examine our individual personalities regarding whether a proposed partnership would be a good fit or a disaster in waiting.In 2007, when I lost more than $130,000 in the stock market,I learnt a permanent lesson that stuck with me till today.I discovered that I was a control freak.I needed to always know how my actions directly related to my results, and most often like to retain the ability to change my mind even if others would find such reversal a stupid idea.Seeing how much control I didn't have on how my stocks performed in 2008 despite all the information I had consumed for several months regarding value investing and how to analyze a company's fundamentals scarred me for life.It made a real estate investor out of me.The safety and assurance that I was taking sole responsibility for the calls i made and the risks I decided to take was a calming refuge.Having been a Pro-member on BiggerPockets for as long as I've been has its perks.It gives one a front row seat to see in slow motion the interesting evolution of the component parts that make up this mammoth industry.I watched in amusement as one member arrived as a total newbie in 2018 with a welcome post, voraciously consuming unsolicited counsel on the member forums for a few months and then posted a "success story" of his deals after 6 months.Within a year, he had his own podcast and is now buying large apartments as a syndicator pooling investors' money.To be clear, this is not a hate post.I certainly do not begrudge people "crushing it" in record time.Nonetheless, as a 'senior' member of this community who has seen this movie before,I do feel a lonely cautionary voice in the wilderness is needed at this point.We are in an environment of unprecedented cap rate compression and record low interest rates which is only headed in one direction after this is all over.Yes, make no mistake, the music will soon stop.That has very little to do with an upcoming election and is regardless of who wins the White House or who controls congress after November.If you've listened to Kevin Bupp and Rod Khleif, you know what happened to their portfolios in 2008.These were no amateurs, as a matter of fact, they had many years of investment experience when the music stopped.They both weathered the storm and came back stronger and that is why I remain a shameless fan of both men till today.Several others were not that lucky, and you will never hear their names.In this space today, there are investors and there are educators.The educators have taken over the habitat.That is why there are now more podcasts on real estate than I can get through in a working week.Real Estate education is so very lucrative now that it is possible to make way more money from podcasts and books than in actual real estate investment for some gifted marketers with smooth tongues and gifted content creators.We are in the information age after all, and youtube millionaires are now perhaps outpacing patient real estate buy and hold landlords in the passive income/ cash flow game.Belonging to a $25,000/year mastermind and attending a syndication bootcamp does not insulate anyone from catastrophe.

Real-life landlord experience (our portfolio + contractors):We manage units with:Small workshopsAuto baysWarehousesFlex spacesIndustrial officesAnd the pattern is always the same:👉 Tankless = headaches, callbacks, and premature failure👉 Mini-tank = install and forgetThe reliability alone is worth more than the theoretical efficiency.Bottom LineFor industrial sink use:✅ Go with a 3–5 gallon traditional electric tank heater❌ Avoid small electric tankless unless you absolutely need endless hot water(which you don’t in this setup)Your electrical panel, your tenants, and your maintenance budget will thank you.