This is a great network of folks and I'm looking forward to engaging in the forums and ultimately meeting some of you if there are any in-person networking opportunities forthcoming in the D.C. metro area. 

I also understand that banks might be more willing to deal at the end of the quarter or year - the fewer properties on their books, the better for their balance sheet. end of quarter is a real thing I bought a big mansion that a NBA player had gotten 3.4 done  on a disposition from wells fargo .but it had to be off the books by a date certain so we had about 6 business days to close it.. we paid 1.7 million in cash for it. then refinanced it after we owned it and pulled out another million to finish it.. turned out to be my best rehab ever sold it first day on the market for 5 million :)  I had 2 other partners.. so its was a nice pay day.. but that all happened because wells wanted it off their balance sheet or default list by end of a certain quarter..

THAT is probably why your attorney told you not to engage any further, but the attorney should have told you why.

Much like "ratholing" in poker where the player takes his chips off the table and ends up only playing with the banks money. 

Now in terms of the returns, when someone is actively engaged in real estate (eg., as a landlord or a flipper or anything else) their returns over time are higher versus being passive (e.g., through a syndication).

This results in paperwork, processing delays and per-transaction fees that can add up if you are engaging in more time-sensitive assets or assets that involve a lot of transactions.

You’ll get to know all the deals, all the players etc, lenders etc.

The complexity arises when you are (A) managing other people's money and/or (B) engaging in larger assets with more moving parts. 

It is a major player in the local economy.

You're true about Cummins being the major player, while there are other local employers but as big as Cummins.