I personally did not subscribe to paying for coaching in the initial phases, i believe there is plenty of free content and also books out there that can coach the early steps.

After a bit of back-and-forth on the repair costs, I negotiated it down to $69,000, convincing them the extent of repairs was higher than they initially estimated.

After a bit of back-and-forth on the repair costs, I negotiated it down to $69,000, convincing them the extent of repairs was higher than they initially estimated.

I am the owner of DealMachine and take personal responsibility for making sure we communicate clearly and have issued a refund to you (the initial charge was April 2023 and it is 2025 now... sorry it took so long to see this).Direct mail is a hard cost, so when you send out direct mail, you get the first 20 free during the free trial. 

Continue Renting options (self-manage or PM) - Our initial experience has been smooth, but of course not perfect.

This implies renting is initially cheaper than buying and at high LTV, rentals are initially cash flow negative.  

I did a "blind" assessment where I paid/reimbursed a close family friend to go in as a guest because there were a lot of details I wasn't privy to- and wanted to understand (the whole experience and process from the guest perspective from the initial inquiry, emails, etc.).They shared the email communications (some of which was glitchy or not quite as good as what I'd expect, or told me of delays in receiving responses).

We did get much lower costs when we changed to minisplits but the initial cost is high.

I am hoping this gives me a head start in funding the initial investments.I also have some high balance liquid assets, but I am putting all or most those funds into other investment vehicles to diversify my holdings such as stocks, bonds, etc.

Use your $30k for down payment or initial rehab but budget extra for unexpected repairs.Your lead methods (D4D, DealMachine) are strong.