I've been navigating the waters of real estate for over 20 years now, managing over 200 properties and owning 25, spanning from Jacksonville to Orlando to Tampa.

I focus on the total return over a 5-year span.

A 2000 house would not have clay lines so I'm pretty sure you meant 1900s.So given that the 'expected life span' of clay pipes is 50-60 years, that means that this sewer line is past due for replacement.

Hiring one spanning decades and thousands of tid-bits of experience, priceless. 

Since business loans tend to be variable and much borrowing occurred during COVID and the low rate aftermath with terms spanning several years, many businesses are now stuck paying much higher interest.

I will tell you a personal story that changed my life.I thought I had all the time in the world but at age 16 in a span of 2 years I lost my dad in an auto accident,my grandmother,my grandfather,my best friends dad to cancer 2 weeks before my dad died accidentally and my family (brothers) thought we were rich off of my dad's death so sued us in court (how nice).I was only 16 at the time and my world imploded.From that I learned the value of TIME and how rare it is.Instead of living to make my dad happy I redefined what I wanted my life to be which took me awhile to figure out.I owned a restaurant later on in life (my 20's) and made great money but the hours and problems were a killer.My weight went up to 280 and my cholesterol was at 300.I sold it off and took a few years off and regained my health and sanity.I learned from that experience that money IS NOT everything.It simply is a vehicle to accomplish my goals in life but I am not a slave to it.I believe you are much more rich and powerful when you are centered.Being centered is achieving a harmonious balance in as many aspects of your life as possible.I know people who have lots of money but are miserable.The kids hate them and the wife left them.The job didn't end up being the end all they thought it was.I believe for brokers and agent we need to specify residential versus commercial.In residential YES if you are working with small investors buying dumpy little houses you will work hard for a little return.I don't do residential housing.The headache is big and the returns are small (a few thousand if you are lucky).In commercial most of my clients own businesses and operate during the week.They value the weekends off and down time just as much as I do.Now if someone wants to fly in and is looking at big purchases I will make time but not at the last second.I will also qualify them before spending any time with them.I invest and buy properties myself so I understand time and money.A broker/agent being HUNGRY is all relative to their experience and knowledge and level of deals they are doing.I love commercial because my sales price and commission checks are much larger.Smallest deals typically are 500k and most are in the millions.Selling a 30k house I would have to do 34 deals to do 1 deal at a million sales price.As you can see just like investors not all brokers/agents are equal (the same).I believe the problem is expectations going in from both sides.The benefit for a broker/agent is with a starter investor the sales price is small but you can grow in deal size with them over time.If you already have investors purchasing large properties you don't want to mess with the small deals.So it's all really about where you are at and where you want to go for a broker/agent and as an investor.We are all I believe looking for the same thing.Independence to live the life we want BY CHOICE and not BECAUSE WE HAVE TO.

Then, you have work done on your property with a time span of 6 months or less by a licensed contractor, and then you bring the receipt of that work to the lender?

If on average each property cash flows positive at say $300 a month, and I acquire 30 in a 15-year span, that's only two properties a year at $108,000 income.

There must be a catch because I’ve read they are cheaper to build, more durable and allow for wide open spans inside, so why isn’t everyone building them??

House has major foundation issues along with 2 x 6 floor joists that are over spanned and 24 inches on center.