I've accidentally ignored rule number 1 plenty in my life.Particularly when it comes to one area of investing.It has a special place in my heart... though it often will stomp on and rip my heart open.It's real estate.My wife and I own a few rental properties and I KNOW in the long-term, they'll be fantastic investments.But in the short-term, day to day of life... they cause me plenty of heartburn and seem to be a bottomless money pit.Take for example one particular townhouse we own.We bought if for a good price... spent about $10,000 fixing it up... and put it on the market for rent.My wife, being much more financially conservative than me, started to get worried after 2 weeks went by without a signed lease.So when the next applicant came along, with a whopping 590 credit score, and against my better judgement, we let them move it.And of course, immediately, problems started.Late rent was a common occurrence (There isn't anything much more frustrating than chasing a tenant around trying to get them to pay rent).

The best you can arrive at is true par either way, up to you how much time you want to spend on that (you need a broker if you want to save time), or if you need the emotional sense of victory (you need a banker if you want to be quoted something high, that you negotiate down, for that emotional victory [in marital situations, this is often REQUIRED, and mortgage brokers suck at fulfilling this marital requirement]).You can also swap rate for fee and fee for rate to your heart's desire through either channel, I typically just show my California clients the wholesale rate sheet and let them tell me what they want.

Purchase price: $225,000 Cash invested: $40,000 2 Br/2 Bath condo in the heart of Portsmouth, NH.

Looking at my home city of Chicago, I see some of it, but not a whole-hearted effort.

In my heart I’m there with Jay and the 4 AMers.

It is not for the faint of heart or the ill prepared.My wife and I make great money at our w-2's, but I have never had a "wealth" producing machine like my buildings.

I just helped my good friends FHA house hack a 2flat in the heart of Logan Square. 

Have a heart and genuinely wish to help people and everything will work out.

I suppose you could help them out of the goodness of your heart but, you couldn't do it for compensation unless you were registered/licensed in many states (California is one of those states) and doing it without that paperwork could subject you to civil and criminal penalties if you ended up taking title to that property, or received compensation in exchange for helping them or made some promise like, you are there to help them.Maybe I'm misunderstanding your post but, if you don't understand what the general qualifications are for a loan mod, I'm confident you shouldn't be doing what you say you are doing, or trying to do.

To be successful (and enjoy) working in this space, you have to HAVE A HEART.