I'm not sure you should feel confident about the return on your equity if there is no cash-flow.

That experience can give you the confidence to grow. 

Fortunately, I have a connection in Colorado who is a general contractor (GC), and I engaged their services for the renovation.

I also volunteer my time as a board member of the RPA (Rental Property Association of Wisconsin), a non-profit REIA and we focus on education, landlord-tenant law and lobbying on behalf of landlords in Madison.Networking is important especially in the beginning, because it gives you confidence to see other people's success when you are getting started.

I suggest beginning with turnkey rentals as you build connections and confidence.

The key is feeling confident in who your lending to and do they seem to know what they are doing.

While a lot of what you'll learn will be from experience, I do think there are some resources to increase your knowledge base and give you more confidence as you take your next steps.One book I'd highly recommend starting with is The book on managing rental properties. 

Most flippers would tell you those were bad deals, but those "bad" deals gave me confidence, experience and helped me develop relationships that propelled me to take the next bigger steps and quit my day job. 

I have partner 50/50 with new flippers, but they put half the money into acquiring the house and repairs, and I pay the other half but I use my crew to do the flip. the other person needs to have skin in the property otherwise, I just pay them a wholesaling fee.I recommend starting by using a hard money lender, as they will take risks when someone is new, and they won't lend you the money unless they feel confident the deal is good. so you are confident you can be successful.you may pay some hight interest rates, and points, but at least you know you may make money at the end 

When we engage appraisers to appraise for loans, we do not tell them the loan amount, and we don’t allow them communication with the borrower.