If you’re interested in investing, I’d focus on strategies that fit your current lifestyle and income, and that can be easily integrated into your life in a tax-efficient way.

Hearing from other landlords who have used the platform can provide valuable insights to help you make an informed decision about whether it's the right fit for your property management needs.

There was an additional 20k fee for them to source you properties that would fit their model.

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.

We actually manage over 300 properties in the Clearwater–Tampa area and help investors find new deals that fit exactly what you’re describing.

If you're not able to find the right fit, I would recommend either finding a value-add rehab property or just a long-term hold rental.

When it comes to how much “profit” or buffer to leave in a deal, there’s no one-size-fits-all number, and it really depends on your market, the property, and your comfort with risk.Many investors aim to leave around ten to twenty thousand as a cushion, like your agent mentioned, but what matters more is that the deal still makes sense after all costs (purchase, rehab, holding, financing, and resale or refinance).

Quote from @Adam Macias: Real estate agents truly need to get good at negotiating.You can't just look at the price of a house on the MLS or with what a seller is looking for off market and say, "well, if I can't get to their number, oh well, guess it's not a fit."

If a deal fits that box, that is usually the moment to move instead of spiraling into analysis mode.In Fairborn and Dayton, the common pitfalls I see are older mechanicals getting overlooked, taxes jumping after reassessment, and people using optimistic rent numbers instead of real leased comps.

We really like the simple interface that Rentec Direct has.Most of the services offer a free trial that you can get in and play with them and see how they fit your needs.