@Jessica Kiely I'm no expert in RE auctions, but most of my clients that attend them say the biggest issue to them is that they generally don't have the ability to enter/view the inside of the property prior to bidding.

Anyone have tips for buying a business?

It looks like you and I joined around the same time except I’m in the suburbs of DC— and That is what I did to get my first person.

I have both W2 main job and 1099 moonlighting income and set up a solo401k for my 1099 income.

@Jason Zundel is totally on the mark with his run down of OZ benefits so I wont dive any deeper than that other than to comment that despite the deferral being for only about 2 years under current law, the biggest benefit that a lot of my clients are still going after is the permanent gain exclusion for future appreciation if you hold the asset for another 10 years.The part that I wanted to dive into that a lot of investors are unaware of is the structure that is required to actually make a qualifying OZ investment.For whatever reason, congress made it so that you need to acquire OZ property within a partnership structure or a corporate structure, not just in your own name via a SMLLC.  

I'm planning on using private financing to get my foot in the door with these first four units of my portfolio, and then to scale up and build more units on site as they're paid off. 

If you choose to do a partnership agreement, then make sure it outlines the terms of your collaboration, including ownership, profit and loss distribution, responsibilities, dispute resolution, and exit strategies.Creating an LLC offers additional legal protections by shielding personal assets from liabilities associated with the property, and is generally what I recommend for my clients when doing a partnership.

My point stocks and real estate are apples and oranges. 

This resets the depreciation on some of my older houses. 

RBTR is his primary strategy in DFW and can probably share a few tips/recommendations with you.