They used that period of unemployment to skip paying student loans and then try to get some kind of program/hardship deferral or something aka "gaming the system".

Compare that to Phoenix where I had been to a game just one month earlier.

Negotiating felt like a game of chess—except I was playing against a grandmaster, and my queen was missing.

Focus on what the rents will look like post-renovation with 4 units instead of 2, and have a clear game plan for refinancing to pull your capital back out. 

The collateral is so so and some have preferences such as certain asset classes they will invest in, but generally speaking, you can obtain an equity deal with very little skin in the game. 

This decision often comes down to a simple numbers game.

Try again in 2026.It's a long game.

Spending too much time on analyzing one deal will put you out of the game on too many other ones...

If appreciation is not there, however, it seems like a potentially long waiting game to see if your $60k investment today returns anything meaningful in the long run. 

This my friends on BP is just the reality of Real Estate you have two basic methods One mom and pop keep their day jobs and start buying long term hold rentals as they can afford them and if they like it they keep at it..Two you jump in the game and try to make money transactionally IE RE Broker  Flipper Wholesaler MLO  leasing agent etc etc.. this also is a long term ramp.. what the Guru programs attract generally speaking is those that get excited think they can somehow buy a program ( any program pick one) and its going to jump start them to this mythical financial freedom everyone talks about..