Minus lottery winners, inheritances and professional sports stars, it does take a high level of skill to amass money.

With the amazing shortage of skilled tradesmen and labor in our country (it’s getting worse every day,) the only way is to change the job and culture of the job completely.

(Wiring in the ceiling needs fixed as I have installed a new fan but that is the extent of my electrical skills)Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated.

- What skills, attributes and experiences do you and your husband have?

Having a renter that cares and has the skills to do minor upkeep makes a ton a sense for me.

Regards,Michael Faudoa I would encourage you to look at the age of any advice in real estate as it’s often given when market conditions aren’t the same as the present.Being a listing agent is the fastest way to stack cash in SoCal using sales and negotiating skills. 

As a first time investor, living out of state can be intimidating making it that much more important to work with skilled professionals. 

Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek  -  great in depth book on developing your leadership skills

Now I'm not advocating that you go out willy-nilly buying every piece of real estate in the hopes that you'll have a winner in there but my point is that you have to do the best you can, do the deals that you think have a low probability of being a loser and gain experience that will give you the skills and the access to the home runs and grand slams.If you read the books and follow the blogs and even some forum posts you might think that everybody hits home runs on their first try. 

For my day job I work as an Actuary and my primary experiences is in Risk Management, Asset-Liability Management, and Model development - which I hope to translate most of these skills into my real estate investment plan.I am interested in growing long-term wealth through acquiring a portfolio of cash-flowing rentals.