Your challenge is to find and keep that mental state which motivates you to stay focused on deal flow and problem solving.

I figured out how much I had to work and worked 21 hours a week doing this job while in school (which was mentally taxing - 50 calls a day).

I started in my 20's and made some irrational decisions, that had cost me financial and mental heart ache. 

there was and still is a mentality in Detroit going on that residents were not paying their water bills for whatever reason and then the case was made that water should be free.  

Not saying though all experienced flippers (the ones you are looking for) are bad but it very rough out there to get someone with that win win mentality without being too greedy to take advantage.Wish you well though with all your future plans!

But I think it's kind of like the diamond ring mentality -- that if something costs more, it must be more worth it.

There is a great technique that I have personally had success with for getting around mental blocks that keep you from success, it involves sitting down in a quiet area with a pen and paper, and saying aloud or too yourself whatever it is that you want to be, in this case you might say to yourself, "IM a real estate investor, or real estate millionaire", then comes the interesting part.

(financialy, mentally, physicaly).

If your risk tolerance or personality does not fit a landlording mentality, then first decide whether the steps needed to be successful in business are your strengths before deciding to spend any money with aspirations of being a successful flipper, rehabber or papa murphys franchisee.Learn first about being a business man/woman first, then make decisions based on your expertise's to decide what business you want to be in before taking the steps.Good luck in your next venture.Mike[i]Steady Plodding brings prosperity, hasty speculation brings poverty...To be a successful investor, you must spend less than you make and then save and invest the rest for a long long time.

I think it is fair to say that the 50% rule is a much better guideline than 45% because (a) it is easier to use in mental calculations, (b) it is more conservative and (c) it seems to have worked for so many successful BP investors.I consider myself fairly financially sophisticated but I would not second-guess the numbers that numerous investors have claimed from real experience managing MFDs because I do not have real-world experience managing a portfolio of apartment complexes.