I've been trying not to reply to so many posts about this, but also need to watch out for rookies to save them from losses.The other thing I don't like is that so many folks interested in this usually have very little extra capital and could lose some or all of their "extra" capital on a bad wholesale deal if they made one mistake. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Recommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

We hope to learn from others mistakes and wins.

The lessons you learned the hard way in 2008 will be invaluable now, and it’s great that you’re aiming to stay small-scale and within your comfort zone of Sacramento, which gives you an advantage of knowledge in that market.Given your experience, I'd say start by focusing on three key areas to build confidence and minimize risks:Budget Control: Over-renovating was one of the big mistakes you mentioned.

But I could've made a mistake in my understanding of law "back in the day."

Going after deals with the highest projected IRR is such a novice mistake I don't think I was even doing this my first 6 months investing in syndications.

For this to be my first deal I was applauded at the closing for “not making any mistakes”.

@Amol KulkarniRecommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

Your comment does bias me slightly in favor of Indy, since at least we're talking about a manageable car ride.That said, I'd love to know the biggest mistakes you've seen - how do neophytes typically "crash and burn?"

You can hear real-world examples of how others have built their investment portfolio and (hopefully) learn to avoid their mistakes.4.