You can hear real-world examples of how others have built their investment portfolio and (hopefully) learn to avoid their mistakes.4.

A Heloc can never be used as a PITI reserve, or an asset instead its a debt burden and an additional trade line on credit.A Heloc carries a higher risk when it comes to security meaning if you miss a payment even by mistake or for any reason, your scores drop, or your balances start to change your DTI or usage percentage.

At this point, I'm just looking for a small assignment fee so I can close my first deal and move on to the next one.I did make the newbie error of getting the deal under contract before finding a cash buyer list, so perhaps that was my big mistake. 

ETC.Most people who get stuck in analysis paralysis either don't really want to be investors or are so terrified of making a mistake that they'd rather do nothing.

If you have an LLC, ownership percentages are recorded and thus difficult and/or costly to change if an active partner is earning equity through actions.To give some personal experience, Lending and banking can be difficult at best, impossible at worst with a Land Trust.  

I thought my next most important step for me would be finding a deal with deep enough discount for me to make mistake. 

I was able to connect with a property manager out there through someone I heard on a podcast, and I knew worst case scenario I could have just sold the property if I ended up not liking long-distance 

As the owner, you may want to eat the cost since future tenants will likely make the same mistake.

Any tips on avoiding common mistakes?

For apartments, I prefer to provide them because many apartment renters make mistakes hooking them up, or they cause damage moving them in/out.