You buy a distressed property from a scumbag slumlord for a fraction of what it should cost , value add , get decent tenants in there and enjoy rents and appreciation .

For the markets I determine are "green light" markets, I will then start a dual parallel-track process of checking investment opportunities to see if the numbers work (generally speaking) and contacting and interviewing property managers to get their take on the market and begin building out a potential team of local "foot soldiers".The mind dump of metrics I came up with for my analysis so far are (in no particular order):Recent Population growth (2010-2013)Median gross monthly rent (2013)Median gross monthly rent 3-year change (2010-2013)Vacancy rate (2013)3-Year change in vacancy rate (through 2013)Rent as % of income (i.e. median monthly gross rent as a fraction of median household income)3-Year change of rent as % of income% of households that are renters3-Year change in % of households that are rentersMedian price for all SFHs (December 2014)3-Year change in median price for all SFHs (through December 2014)Median price for all 3BR units (December 2014)3-Year change in median price for all 3BR units (through December 2014)Median price for all 2BR units (December 2014)3-Year change in median price for all 2BR units (through December 2014)Median gross annual rent (i.e. monthly gross rent * 12) / Median price for all homes - I know I am kinda mixing apples and oranges here, but it's the closest I can get using available objective dataUnemployment rate3-Year change in unemployment rateGDP growth (time period depends on data available)Job growth (time period depends on data available)Household income growth (time period depends on data available)Proximity to major international airport (i.e. how easy will it be for me to get there?)

I am not sure if in Texas you can Fractionalize beneficial interest like your allowed to do in CA. ( its not allowed in Oregon for instance) But if it is allowed in Texas then your HML there will put smaller investors together as co beneficiaries of a singular loan...

Using the QRP loans get you the second tier financing options, for example a Roth IRA can buy real estate on leverage however will need a non recourse loan which is often a fraction high interest rate and lower LTV.

I am very interested in investing in Fractional First Trust Deeds.

I'm not a big fan of spending that kind of money for training because I think there are plenty of ways to get the education you need at a fraction of the cost.

You can get ListSource leads through 3rd party retailers for a fraction of that cost.

Gotcha.BuilderTrend has built a great product & company over the last 10 to 15 years...I hope to build something similar specifically for house flippers/rehabbers at a fraction of the monthly cost. 

Using the QRP loans get you the second tier financing options, for example, a Roth IRA can buy real estate on leverage, however, will need a non-recourse loan which is often a fraction high-interest rate and lower LTV.

I haven't looked at even a fraction of that many places in persona and I have a nice little highly cash flowing portfolio going.