Folks should not be disappointed in their hard work and execution if they only get back a fraction of what they started with!!! 

Or the person with the most education and resources will. in most cases, whole sellers do not have the ability to close and flip the property and are happy making a fraction of the profit, otherwise they would maximize the profit 100% of the time. we have bought properties from whole sellers where they have earned $200k on a $350k purchase, why?

To reach the same number of people with a billboard is a fraction of that cost.

I went full time into investing at the end of 2016 without knowing a fraction of what I know today.

In such cases, the net income of each activity with positive net income for the year is multiplied by a fraction: the numerator is the combined net income for all significant participation activities, and the denominator is the combined net income for the activities with positive net income.Eg: Betty is a full-time teacher, but she also owns stock in two S corporations (Acorp and Beecorp) that pass through income to her.

(Buying shares of a stock at a 20% down payment :P ) Although you can reinvest dividends through DRIP to buy fractions of a share.

You might consider starting with something smaller, like a REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust), crowdfunding platforms, or even fractional ownerships.

In San Diego you can put 3-5% down and owner occupy a property, out of state you'd like put 20-25% down so even with higher prices you likely would be putting less of your money into a property here for down payment/closing costs.Just remember when you go to another market where prices are a fraction of San Diego and think about why it is so much cheaper....if you must go to another market, understand the local economy. 

The Delaware Statutory Trust (DST) and the syndicated Tenant in Common (TIC) project are opportunities for you to own fractional interests of much larger investment properties.

Decades ago I started charging hundreds in pet application fees, monthly pet rent, lock change fees, and so many other things related to long term rentals, that only a fraction of the industry has started to implement today.