When I say education, I mean real education (not formal or higher education) but more like hands on business experience, sales, marketing, or agriculture as you mentioned. 

If Union City’s numbers don’t work, out-of-state rentals in more affordable markets might offer better cash flow.Good luck!

From there we identify properties that could have some potential and if you are interesting in diving deeper, 1) we do a thorough video walkthrough to give you a realistic look of the property, 2) we give a ballpark estimate of rehab costs (we do 40 a year with our GCs o we will get pretty close), 3) we talk through market rent with our property management team, ARV, and potential highest and best use.Ideally you find great investor agents who know their market really well and have a network of resources to provide you with enough confidence to take reasonable action. 

This is my third SFR in this market.

IMO better options- If you don't need the money in the next 10+ years look into Annuities I'm seeing 7-9% and you don't have to participate in market downturns.

Marketing = momentum.

I have found a good market and have built a good team thus far and I'm ready for my first flip.

What market are you in? 

Lots of old houses valuing over 500k and up to 1M (local house price in my market is 167k).

I totally agree with having to act quick, especially in competitive markets.