On the other hand, the croissant are cheaper, local and work pretty darn well.

The other site that I would be looking at is meetup.com as well, they have a lot of meetups in your area that you can attend to get in front of people doing the stuff you want to be doing.  

This is extremely unfortunate and I think the name does not match their product, but there will be many others out there that do the same - so what can we take and learn from this as well?

if you were only going to rent out a portion of the house as an STR that portion would have to be worth more than your exchange as well.

@Cosmo DePintoThe BRRRR is alive and well.

My strategy incorporates asset protection measures like LLCs, specific trusts as well as professional property management to spread risk and ensure quality operations.As well as using tax codes to my benfiitSection 179, IRC Section 162, Cost Segregation and Bonus Depreciation and later 1031 them out for larger projects. 

Your strong foundation in the stock market and tech background positions you well for success in real estate investing.

Reducing risk requires at least some time spent in research and involvement in a deal.There are many other things you learn along the way as well. 

Is your midterm you live in performing well? 

It's that simple.Doesn't hurt to have real hardwood floors and A/C as well.