There was never a question that I didn't have narrowed down to 2 answers with a strong leaning towards one of the 2 (75%).I also knew if I didn't pass I could retake in 18 days so there was no stress, the only downside of that is it's a 4 hour round trip drive for me to all the testing centers.Be really clear on the brokers escrow account rules and types of deeds and estates.  

The runner is probably stapled/brad nailed to the wood steps just under the rounded lip of the tread and at the bottom of each riser, if there's no padding underneath.

I have concrete floors and for baseboard I used 1x6 with a quarter round in front.

You might have the budget to do the first round but if you don't get any traction, you might quit before giving it a solid chance.

And there's actually a bonus in starting an exchange round about this time of year. 

I have a few TEsla's and I thought it would be cool to drive them around in my electric car when I am bored... but then I read I have to allow dogs and well that ended that. there are many ways to do real estate part time... and still service your clients. its not all residential you know.And real estate is simply not like it used to be.. if you have weekends and nights free you can make it work.I know when I sold real estate I played golf most every day during the week  130 to 140 rounds a year.. my clients were working I was golfing.. or flying my plane or what have you.. but come 4pm I worked every night till 10 and I worked EVERY weekend.. save thanksgiving and Christmas...

Mortgage at 5% and 25 years.Assumed a 9% vacancy rate, a 20% cap-ex rate (very old building) and applied a ~10% buffer rounded up on all of the utility bills we've seen as well as insurance.

Here's an example with round numbers.

Purchase price 147KListed for 299K, sold for 285 (went under contract for 290 but dropped it another 5K at buyer request after the appraisal just to get out of the deal)Home Depot credit card: 10K (appliances, fixtures and other things we picked out and purchased ourselves rather than having GC use typical builder grade stuff, also husband did some of the work himself so bought his own materials)Brought 40K of our own cash to the closing table, loan total when paid back was 185 (original loan 175 plus 10K in accrued interest, 12 month balloon loan so we did not have to make payments during the rehab, which helped a lot with cash flow, also loan had rehab costs folded in so for the most part we paid our guys out of the loan and not our own pockets)So (numbers are round): 285 sale price - 185 (loan payback) - 40 (cash we brought to closing) - 10 (Home Depot card) - 10 (closing costs) = 40K profitWork done: insulation and vinyl siding (this ate 18K of rehab budget but was unavoidable as cedar shakes were disintegrating), converted to natural gas heat (ducts already in place, changed out electric hot air blower to gas one and gas company ran the gas from the street for free), replaced AC compressor, new water heater, two new bathrooms, replacement windows, new appliances but left the wood cabinets b/c they were in perfect condition and I could not justify painting/replacing them, new kitchen backsplash, removed wall between kitchen and dining room, wood laminate flooring throughout except for new carpet in downstairs den, painted the deck/railings, new garage doors, one new slider, all solid wood interior panel doors, of course fresh paint and new light fixtures throughout.dining roomThere was moisture damage downstairs from bank not winterizing and pipes bursting...thanks, bank.Hauled out enormous old woodstove and broke up ugly old hearth and left good flue for someone to add new pellet or woodstove to if they want to, we figured not everyone wants a woodstove and this way the buyer can decide to add one back if desiredBathroom off downstairs den, chose a walk in shower for variety, hosing off dog or muddy children, disabled access, etc. 

I always consider from ground zero to "I can breath easy" should take about 5 years on your first go round.