Be extremely conservative - assume very low rent growth, very low appreciation, and fairly stagnant interest rates, meaning minimal opportunity to increase cash flow through a refinance. 

Rehab estimator: As a newbie I don't always know how much things cost so this tool is extremely helpful to bid on jobs.

Also keep in mind on the West coast it is rare to the extreme to have an actual house go to tax Deed sale.. its all land.. back east that completely different.

I really want to make real estate work and I'm extremely passionate about it.

Any advice will be extremely appreciated.  

It's also extremely low maintenance, so I barely have to think about it.

It's extremely helpful hearing the experiences of others.

My options for fixing this were extremely limited, almost non existant.

Considering you can get 8% on average in the stock market and it takes no work and is extremely liquid, the extra 2% is not compelling enough to switch to real estate.I assume you are talking owning a property outright.  

The only benefit in this instance, as an investment partner in a JV, or member in a multi-member LLC, is it's an act of "good faith" on my part in the agreement, being extremely transparent about the project's costs for the construction company, and the specific amount the partner/member invoices as profit or salary attributed to construction services on the specific project (I differentiate profit from salary, as it depends on the size of your construction company, a smaller company the profit may be the salary etc).