For holding vs. flipping, let your goals and market conditions guide you—flipping can build quick capital, but holding offers long-term gains.

Unfortunately, Texas has a law prohibiting HELOCs on rental properties and I believe they also have a 70-75% max total loans allowed on the property which cuts into the equity I've built and would only allow for me to access 30K which would make it less appealing to go through the process for only 30K.

Maybe if you can prove that you are actively trying to gain compliance, that will get you the much needed time to gather $, time to pull the permit and ppl to perform the work bc they will have a bit of mercy on you bc you are trying to do the right thing. 

And any time a journalist or anyone else claims to know, the first question I have for them is: "If you say that you have access to this accurate crystal ball, then why aren't YOU a billionaire?!"

If the search is correct you keep adding 3 months back and 1/2 mile out until you have them.The best value analyzer in my opinion is only accessible by realtors.

A lot of people think that they will gain "experience" when they self manage.

How much gain are we taking about?

@Chris Grenzig  The chart on Wikipedia is interesting, its showing the population gains/losses from 2020 to 2023. 

Since I was new to the game, the Mentorship was a stepping stone to access to people with millions of dollars and I was able and still am able to meet with them and present my deals to them weekly.

Quote from @Dylan Jeluso: This questions is the same question as getting your real estate license when doing flips, you have access to the MLS, you save money on the commission, and you have a little bit of a competitive advantage over the next person that is not licensed.