.^ That might sound dramatic, but its very real.Also, having all the education set-up in a curriculum and mentorship and connections with other syndicators will short cut your curve by probably 10 years.2) Invest passively as a LP in 2 deals ($50k per deal).

There is no shortcut.

There is no short cut.

I guess what I am trying to say is there are no easy answers or shortcuts.

Don't take any shortcuts in the initial stages, get a business plan, talk to an attorney, etc.....

Is it really a shortcut?

Reaching out to local contractors is already on my to do list.Perhaps you are missing the point of J Scott’s book. 3 years ago and a lot has changed in pricing - true, but the book was not about pricing from 2019, it was about the how to arrive at a specific price so if you follow the how to’s of the book and practice, you will get there no matter what happens to specific line item pricing.For you standard rehab homes, it took some time to learn but after doing it over and over again, developing a spreadsheet of each line item and developing some great shortcuts, I was able to (and still can today) walk a rehab property and come out 30 minutes later (and often less time) with a number in my head that will be within 10% of the actual.

•If $500 or $1,000 EMD is collected, is escrow always “opened”, or is there some sort of short-cut process for holding the funds, given the uncertainty of the transaction closing.

The search engines are constantly striving to deliver the best results to their searchers and although there are some shortcuts to great search results positioning, there's no substitute for good unique content.

I like my management company, but the problem is that when something happens (flooding this summer) that needs immediate attention, the management company tends to be hit with all the houses flooding and no longer have time to manage mine effectively.In your case, a direct line with the tenant can shortcut a lack of communication from the PM, as well as be able to provide verification of PM claims.