I don't know what you want to do or your goals but I'll talk about fix and flip as your choosen strategy.Learn fix and flip fundamentals.  

The economic and financial fundamentals don't support it like they did in 2008.

:>)Not being disrespectful to your friend, but I believe he invested without fundamental.  

If so, the fundamentals of return metrics will apply to any real estate market. 

Once you understand how to generate leads, solve people's problems, monetize the opportunities and discover the fundamental principals of perceived added value and other value concepts and apply these in your efforts, these gurus will be distant memories in your last like a bad burrito. 

One of the fundamentals of real estate is that when a home needs repairs it will sell for a discount.

Trust the fundamentals.

Not only can you get started in wholesaling with just a minimal cash outlay, wholesaling also offers a valuable introduction to real estate investing fundamentals such as running comparables, determining if a deal is good or not, establishing ARVs, and estimating renovation costs.  

HMM;  IMO, that's a fundamental mistake, just as premature withdrawal from an IRA.You started on a good path with either of these, now let then sit and create another path using REI.

The fundamental question on the matter is does 10 months of payments support the idea that future payments will also be made on time in full?