That being said, a seasoned sponsor may also have scale and relationships that allow for more efficient operations, and therefore actually achieve a higher return than a smaller operator, even with higher fees and earlier/larger access to carried interest. 

It is absolutely not for everyone.My personal feeling as a relatively new realtor is that due to the constant stream of investment it takes to have even a remote prayer of getting leads, I will be going back into a day job to fund those investments. 

The building has a stone foundation that can be accessed from a crawl space that is below the entire lower level unit.

I understand they're each independently owned and am curious how it works when multiple MLS systems exist within one county- Do they each only cover a portion of the county, do you need a membership to each one to have access to all listings within that county, etc.?

They know a million realtors and some have access to the MLS so setting them up on a drip is for babies.

Rehab is likely 6 figures (open the layout, rehab pool, rehab kitchen, rehab bathrooms (3) converting one bathroom from 0.5 to 0.75), new and relocated HVAC, Digital locks, patio with deck accessible from Master BR, convert office to BR, convert large BR into 2 BR).  

If you haven’t been to it already, you might want to check out the BP blog: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/There are a few self-contained guides that you can access here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/guides

Can upgrading to a BP pro membership be considered a business expense being it grants access to tools to help find and analyze more properties?  

It takes tools, know-how, constant training and time!

Half of my properties have come to me by word of mouth because I'm constantly talking about real estate with everyone.