"Cause only a fool Lean upon, lean upon his own misunderstanding"-Bob Marley 

@Anthony Wienke - Sorry for the misunderstanding.  

I also believe he now thinks a 20-30 percent drop over 18 months is possible, and probable at this point .I think we all had a misunderstanding with James.  

I hope it's a misunderstanding on my part.

I will focus on generating lead and spend less time trying to force deals and look desperate.. thanks Don't misunderstand.

You may be misunderstanding the purpose of the 3X rent rule.

Gurus create this misunderstanding because they encourage people to get LLCs for TAX AVOIDANCE reasons.  

IMHO it certainly doesn't hurt to have the kind of conversation (and written agreement to avoid misunderstandings) about specific objectives and exit timing that you would have with any partner.BTW: If you are lucky, your Dad has a plan for living expenses funded without selling and he hopes to pass the properties to you.

Please correct me if I am misunderstanding.

I feel that many people misunderstand and misinterpret what a mentor can do and what a mentor cannot do.I would spend the $20,000-$50,000 to be in a deal or partnership or several deals and partnerships (being an optimist) where there is a real estate transaction(s) involved and go from there, but that is my personal opinion.