Her recommendation made me loose confidence in her experience.

@Dave Foster is the man when it comes to this stuff. 

Whichever direction you go, be sure to work with folks who understand this and gives you the confidence to take reasonable action - I'd personally take an okay investment and weather the storm for a few years that will eventually perform well, and do that each year - rather than take 3 years to wait for the best deal possible.

It’s a solid way to build experience and confidence without diving straight into heavy competition with big players.Question: What’s been your biggest challenge in deciding which market to focus on?

I think real estate investors in the game just become confident as to handle new challenges and they call that being experienced - Just like parenting: you think you are experienced with changing diapers, but the child is growing-kindergaten-grade one-baseball/soccer- soon teenage and the jazz goes on - grandparent

You’ll need an expert like @Dave Foster in rewards to doing a 1031 for your business.

Taking action at 21 shows massive confidence and drive.

Pretty confident we slap tariffs on Europe to the tune of 25-30% immediately, and then threaten China/Mexico to impose by July or August if they don't revert or establish some policies to our (trade & immigration) benefit.This overnight belief that we'll kick out 20% of illegal immigrants and impose 30% tariffs globally with seizing Panama, Canada, and Greenland is just a farce.

I'm sure there are many more experiences where the contractor hasn't fulfilled their scope of work and gotten away with rushing the project to meet the deadline, And, I don't want to be as naive to say that I'm that 1% who can have complete quality/operational control, but I'm confident I can establish a system and hire independent inspectors to review the contractor's work. 

A tidy profit, plus confidence to tackle the next project solo.On the topic of self-directed IRAs: While they’re fantastic for gaining experience and diversifying into real estate over time, they can feel restrictive if your main goal is scaling quickly.Here’s what I’d focus on:Using Equity Wisely: A HELOC or cash-out refinance could unlock funds to pursue a flip or duplex without touching your 401(k).Partnering Smartly: Your realtor friend sounds like a great resource.