Educate yourself on the local market, network with other investors and agents, and always have a solid plan in place before making any investments. 

Furthermore, you may want to educate yourself on the topic of debt to income (you know the original topic of this post).

You'll need to get good at analyzing rehab costs and predicting after-repair value (ARV) to ensure your margins are solid.To get started, immerse yourself in real estate education—read books, listen to podcasts, and use BiggerPockets to connect with experienced investors.

Lots of free info and education out there but if that was enough you wouldn't be on here asking.there's too much to it to explain on a forum post, but that doesn't mean it's hard.just make sure you get the price right and finding help or JV will be easy.

Start with education - Read books, join local investor groups & find a mentor.

This is why I emphasize education of real estate principles, law and finance are essential for the real estate investor.  

I called them out first that 30% is a joke and you cannot give that to investors and secondly cash on cash is not even a metric to be used for notes.Atleast he got to use some of that $10,000 education they probably paid for to post on social media. 

EDUCATE YOURSELF - yes, it will take time, but will lead to a selection that better meets your expectations & avoids potentially costly surprises!

EDUCATE YOURSELF - yes, it will take time, but will lead to a selection that better meets your expectations & avoids potentially costly surprises!

Regarding bookkeeping/accounting, 100% of the feedback I've gotten from REIs who have tried to have a VA help with their bookkeeping is they had no clue what they were doing and they caused more issues than before they were involved.There are great groups out there such as the "Bookkeepers for Real Estate Investors" Facebook group where VAs can get the education they need to be productive within REI bookkeeping.