Once the work was complete, I refinanced to pay off the hard money loan and held the property as a long-term asset.This duplex also marked the start of my short-term rental journey—we ran our first Airbnb from one of the apartments before scaling to bigger projects.

Is it worth to pay that much for 1:1 coaching for 6 months and a laid-out course? 

Please don't believe the hype of these gurus and for the love of god do not pay for their courses.

Location and paying attention to Nathan's points above about the immediate area are more important.

The 1031 exchange is what allows them to do this without having to pay tax on the gain or depreciation recapture. 

Less RiskWith traditional rentals, if your one tenant fails to pay, you’re in trouble.

From our experience with clients, you’d typically expect to pay around $1,000–$1,500 for a single-property return, depending on your situation.If that $6K includes monthly bookkeeping and accounting, it could be reasonable; it could also be low, or high... it all really depends on the number of transactions, bank/credit card accounts, and the complexity of your finances.

The best strategy is to buy properties that need fixed up with hard money/HELOC, fix them up, the refi out to pay back your HELOC/hard money.

The only thing in that county is that I pay a higher property tax rate as an investor vs. a homeowner. 

And all the deals I do the exit on a fully rehabbed home that I fund and pay for the rehab etc for my clients. is basically 250 and under .. there is not an issue with affordability in much of the US the issue is buyers preferences.