Some focus on different types of deals so it's good to have a large database of lenders and build a relationship with them.

Have a large emergency fund that you can draw on for several months if. you ever are in between jobs (an amount that will cover your side of the mortgage for several months).  

One strategy is to look for a premium town that does not have large amounts of rental houses.

Its nice to want to go after larger multifamily properties but if you have no experience with them, you are not gonna get the money unless you have a friend or family member or a very large downpayment. 

For better or for worse, we aren't "federally" in a short sale environment anywhere in the country at this point in time (Yes, maybe one neighborhood in one city may have disproportionate value to debt, but not on ANY large scale ANYWHERE).

@Teia Guber employment can be verified multiple ways:1) Many areas have several large employers and you get to know what their paystubs look like.

And still the values are as you say higher than reality a large percentage of the time.  

I won't get into STR until I have a LTR portfolio large enough to supplement the inconsistencies of STR in my market, if at all.

No one can make you want to own 100's of doors and manage a large real estate portfolio.

However, as an agent and investor, we understand an accept that our payout comes with time- however for a project manager realistically looking for a 1099, being paid at the time of work is key to making sure you have the right person on your team.Is there realistically a way that you can create your projections of net profit on a project (in a scale format from X$ to Y$) and find a happy medium in there of expected net profit, and carve out your PM budget there?