I had to redo everything they did on my taxes. 

I have been to RE meetups in the past with like-minded everyday investors pursuing similar goals, sharing stories and learning from each other, running through numbers, sharing network contacts, and even doing deals together.

That means learning how to vet a manager.

I know it's a bit scary to start but once you jump in, you'll learn and grow!

They're generally more stable and less management-intensive while you learn the ropes.

Why suffer through multiple learning curves when you can focus and perfect your approach?

I have also learned through experience not to be the bargain option among comparable homes.

Someone with $10M in the bank in cash just needs to put a lot of money to work and time value and tax write off is more interesting to them than a hungry investor in their 20s that has never found a deal.Honestly, books are great, but they are about as "boiler plate" as you can get as I'm sure you're discovering.

Also, I'm not sure how you're paying attention to it on the tax side, but the unit that you are living in's profit at sale is calculated differently than the other unit that you're renting out.Once you move out, that unit is officially available for rent so from that point forward, any profit gained at future sale will be calculated starting from that point and will be taxable.

Home went to tax sale county kept excess proceeds.