Doing your own taxes makes you understand your business and be able to double check your prepared return, as you are the one ultimately held responsible.

I am currently reading "rich dad poor dad" and "the ultimate beginners guide to real estate investing".

Being honest with yourself about how hard you already work, not about how hard you plan to work, is going to play crucial in your determination and ultimately will somewhat factor into how successful you are.If you have a lot of passion and drive, like you mentioned, already have an understanding about real estate and structuring deals / transactions, perhaps it's the move to make.I started out with getting my license to use on the side. 

I have spent a fair amount of time on the BP website reading everything I can get my hands on, including the Ultimate Beginners Guide, which I found to be a great place to start for a newbie.

Make sure you check out your contractor thoroughly, a bad parging job will not survive it's first winter.

(about not writing a letter.)Thanks for the gentle reminder that real-estate is ultimately about relationships!

My ultimate goal is to retire when I am 30 from firefighting, but continue to buy a bit of properties to fund my travels and farm.

Hey Rich I wanted to drop you a link to The Ultimate Guide to Grading Kansas City Missouri Neighborhoods since you're investing there from afar.

Fortunately, my friend survived but got hit with a $70k hospital bill that he couldn't pay. 

I'm a construction project manager and I actually love doing it, I just hate working for someone that does not appreciate hard work and i'm sure you've all felt that way.I have a "One Thing" goal of ultimately being financially free from owning rental properties. it would be amazing to complete that goal/dream in 5 years, but realistically it will be 10.