What was the biggest head scratcher during early fix and flips?

[Winson Zhi Jie Zheng]

Hi,

I started my real estate investment journey 3 years ago, house hacking near a college town. Appreciation and equity has grown on the house and I should be able to access about 300k through a HELOC on this property. I have been studying fix and flips for the past year and have been stuck in analysis given the current market. I have a trusted contractor team located in California and would be ideal to start here.

I would love to hear advice from seasoned investors about early successes or pitfalls and how to get the ball rolling. Looking forward to your words of wisdom!