The game plan being to get some cash flow going before tackling a larger expense of the lake house. 

I built a really cool fireplace and got the courage to pursue woodworking (now I want to tackle some cool furniture). 

(And also I went in depth on this for a month doing it myself - you'd never think it but the local Kroger chain is for the most part less expensive on MOST things we order vs Sam's and Wal Mart - I was literally breaking everything down to the ounce - and also factoring in time it would take for staff to make it to a Wal Mart and pick up groceries and the overall headache of dealing with Wal Mart staff - anyways if you get off brands if you have a major grocery chain I'd think you'll find they are more cost effective)  (PS - I also spent a lot of time talking about food and supplies as I think most would find this is probably the most expensive monthly line item expense after staffing)One thing I haven't tackled yet is changing our chemical supplier and firing ecolab - it's a lower hanging fruit of probably saving 200-500 a month depending on who I go with - not insignificant but there's other bigger fish to fry for now but I'll get them out soon.Anyways the biggest struggles if you want to be owner of RE and business is STAFFING - that will be the biggest struggle - we are doing better but not where I want to be yet. 

We're developing a software - Deal Analytica - that tackles this aspect of the game especially waterfalls but it's more for syndicators. 

Attempting to do an elaborate transaction is not a good idea for a new investor to tackle, withou help.

Much respect to you for being brave enough to tackle such a challenge on your first deal.

I'll put the finished product up of the bathroom but we also tackled the garage door (red-white-blue spray painted windows) problem buy purchasing a craigslist door for $50 and spraying it. 

They qualify the leads (I tackle mostly FSBOs) and then manage the majority of the transaction!

You should check that out if you haven't.The bigger issue that I'm tackling now relates to trial balances.

We have not tackled anything direct yet, but that is on our goal list for 2024!