Hey @Dave Anderson       If you want to make this scalable and repeatable, I would highly encourage you to start with your end goal in mind.

I just haven't seen it work with enough people (or in a meaningful enough way) for me to think it's worth the time.

Our attorneys and escrow officers specialize in subject to, wraps, land contracts and so on, so we greatly encourage using our sources.

That encouragement means a lot man!

If its a retirement play then the duplex is only worth considering if its likely to have significant appreciation that will meaningfully outperform your wholly passive investment in the 401k.  

@Samuel Diouf thanks for encouraging words!

Having a license is cheap, being able to use your license in any meaningful way is expensive.

The other way that I encourage people to look at whether they should invest in real estate at a specific time is to examine the other options available to them (ie.

A typical small multifamily deal for us is to acquire a shell between $100K to $300K- (2 to 4 unit); Spend $200K to $300K to renovate- then rent each unit between $2000-3500 per month. i encourage investments outside of the major metropolitan areas but was advising this first-time investor to not forget the bottom line ROI. 

These strategies can sometimes offer better cash flow compared to traditional LTR, especially in markets where property prices and rents do not align with the 1% rule.I encourage you to expand your criteria and consider these alternative strategies.