He was a Marine, which means he's probably disciplined.

Ideally try to find someone experienced in the same RE discipline that you are interested in pursuing.I am unsure if I will be making it but I hope to come for a short while. 

By then you will know what you truly need as a partner, find someone with the same drive and frugal discipline.

No matter how good your properties cash flow if you don’t have the discipline to be able to keep your  hands out of the cookie jar you will continue to have problems no matter how prosperous you are.

@Luke Grosskreutz- Very inspiring thanks for sharing your story, this sounds methodical and well disciplined.

Buying a house with a very conservative mindset and staying disciplined in all of your endeavors will significantly increase your chances of success.This brings me to the topic.

Whatever you do make sure you stay disciplined throughout the process as I fully expect this piece of garbage to offer up many excuses & ideas that seem like the easy way out like the money in the mailbox.

The way to invest wisely is to determine your investment criteria and stay disciplined to that criteria.

If your number is a minimum of $300/month, and a property comes in at $299/month...go onto the next one.Lack of discipline resulting in a REI negotiating against himself is a big problem...and I see it way too often.

It happens, so learn why and how to mitigate the risks.IMO, self discipline is what sets successful RE investors apart.