Brushes aside the career opportunities and massive amount of money in the area.I'm looking for a more sober middle-ground, or perhaps a more convincing explanation for either of the extremes if they happen to be true.

Started with Fuller brush door to door at 14.. 

Utilities is something many investors brush over and don't take into account as well as they should (I was making that mistake initially) - after all, if you are looking for $300/mo cashflow and you underestimate the utilities, they have a potential of wiping a majority of that CF out.  

You can easily make broad brush assumptions about smokers and non-smokers and most of them are true.  

Brush up on code requirements: in basements you're looking for egress windows that are 5.7 sq feet or more openable (3ft by 3ft casement style windows work best), and ceiling heights 6ft 8 inches or greater (as little as 6 ft 4 inches is ok under ductwork and beams though)3.

So when you start slinging a paint brush and/or swinging a hammer, you are working for free unless you pay yourself an hourly or per-the-job wage at market rates. 

In general I find that painting any group with a broad brush is counterproductive and a waste of time.

I might grab a paint brush if the mood suits me, change a light bulb, sweep cobwebs out of an entry, etc. 

A bunch of folks have muddled the Sub2 pond so with a broad brush Brother @James Wise said it was always slimy.  

These manly men fill the sink with hot water and rinse their beard out to soften the hair as much as they can before lathering up with shave cream using a bristle brush to push the beard-softening cream into the base of the hairs.