Yes maybe it's not manual labor, but mentally it takes perseverance.As far as taking advantage, you are incorrect.

If you can prepare yourself mentally for that then I think you can become a great real estate investor over time. 

Not to mention the parking garages and health facility they built for company use. 

Are you asking because you want to understand the financial health of the HOA or so you know which ones you should market too?

Another tenant had some mental issues. 

I’ve always had the “can’t fail” mentality.

Househacking is out since I have a son with immune issues I can’t risk his health to live with other people so I’ll probably go SFH and work up to units.

I have some health issues flaring up this week that make me unable to reliably sit and focus so I would be afraid to waste your time right now (I started writing this message yesterday for example and suddenly had to go lay down before I could finish).I would love to take you up on that though once my health stuff hopefully settles down again.The quote about the quitclaim deed was a website where the county lists the properties for sale, not actually on the Ada county website (I don't think I ever saw the word "quitclaim" on the Ada County site) - but I did find on the Canyon County (right next door to Ada county, I actually live in Canyon):"For each property sold, the County will transfer its interest by quitclaim deed without warranty or representation."  

Brokerage firms have developed structured processes to encourage this mentality and force agents to compete with each other.

That's strictly a cashflow mentality since he seldom assumed appreciation.Colorado is experiencing major appreciation, so you could lower your payback standards since your profits would come from appreciation.Finishing the basement: Assuming $15,000 to get an extra $250/month, that's a payback of 60 months or 5 years.