I am down the street from you in Long Beach.

@Robert Gorra - I've had a similar experience where I've had a really hard time with getting GC's to even give me an estimate, and the few that have have been way overpriced (ie, they want me to put in $20k of cabinets in a budget flip) or have had their prices go up by about 40% and still not give me a firm price when I try to nail down the scope of work.

Now Mpls is scratching it's head wondering why so many have left, they just can't figure it out, lol.

But the real difference comes down to what actually drives revenue.For example, splurging on a mural in a one-bedroom rental for travel nurses won’t necessarily increase bookings (unless they’re influencers and you have a social media strategy for your rental).

MattIRA sells and owner finances the property for 200k and gets 30k down payment.

A follow up question I now have would be do you think its smarter to completely pay off the first property before buying a new property or to keep going out and buying new properties once i have enough saved up for the down payment along with extra fees?

It comes down to your own risk tolerance.

"Head right on back to the back of the room and my associates will get you signed up today!"   

I'm thinking I can get a nice purchase price if I under cut the banks by 1% and offer 15% required down as opposed to the traditional 20%.

And hopefully I can be financially independent by paying the mortgage down eventually.