I usually spend my time, if the seller is present, keeping him/her out of the way if needed, pumping tenants for info, taking measurements for room sizes and drawing floor plans with doors and windows and noting appliances and taking pictures.We look for value add properties that are in decent structural and mechanical condition (except for one deal that we got really cheap).

If I had $10 for marketing, I would spend $9 on the lead list and $1 on some tool to do something with those leads.   

In all fairness, I have never participated in their mastermind group, but I have been pitched grossly over priced so called education programs from people that spend more time promoting and exaggerating what they’ve done in the hopes of getting a check from me with 5 zeros.

I've heard of folks using the equity in their rental properties to purchase additional properties and I'm trying to learn if this would make sense for me.

In addition to the solid list from Joshua, Typically LLC costs.

Additional Context:- I'm usually a DIY everything guy because I grew up doing construction and farm work.

I see this is posted in the house-hack forum so I'll make the assumption that you want to owner-occupy your next investment.To work more hands-on, you'll want to spend time searching for deals, analyzing deals, and networking/building a team.Before your property search, I'd recommend speaking with a lender to find out how much you'll qualify for.

If you decide to go this route, you could inform the tenants that they will be responsible for a separate monthly utilities charge in addition to their rent.

But due to spending so long in grad school and having one income and a much lower salary for most of my career, I feel behind on retirement.

Do they charge any fees in addition to their asking price for properties?