A blueprint is good, but when you say "Goal is to try for 8-10 Properties and try to leave my W-2 in 3-5 years" that often makes people rush to achieve the door count and in doing so, bad decisions are made.If you think more holistically about your journey, you will stress less.

Why is the decision based solely on what the past owner did or didn't do?   

Yes, it could be the signs of a certain personality defect, but it just as likely could be the sign of a young 20 something being "young n dumb" making poor choices. 

(I am getting pretty tired myself sounding like a broken record).Direct mail marketing works SO poorly, you need to send THOUSANDS of mailers, AND you need to send these thousands of mailers SEVERAL times to get a deal.So:BECAUSE the performance is SO low you need to send thousands to COMPENSATE for its poor performance AND hit the receivers several times BECAUSE the performance is so low to get a deal.Conclusion: "Direct mail marketing works"WHAT THE HECK?!

Mosaic law identified multiple tithes for the old testament jews which were first or levitical tithe, second or festival tithe and a poor tithe.

The city recently inspected the property and determined that a converted garage was poorly constructed.

The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing and the execution seems poorly planned and communicated.

I had a client come to me just yesterday to manage their property that I had to have a real heart to heart with.I asked them what their primary goal was (cash flow was their answer) and what the projections were that they used to make their purchase decision. 

While this decision cost me some money, based on others experiences expressed here on BP with this and other builders, I have no regrets.   

I'm curious, if you were to invest elsewhere, what areas would you consider and what factors would drive your decision?