I agree that some groups take the money making aspect to far and are simply taking advantage of enthusiastic newbies.The two groups I spend most of my time at now are not REIAs, The BWI Meetup and a group of landlords that get together for a casual lunch once a week.

You are like many others who are getting started and unfortunately your generation is screwed because of the amount of spending is older generations have done and put the debt on you which also has led to record inflation.All you can do now is plan for the future and don’t force things but invest wisely when the time is right.

If anyone spends any time in Europe, barely any jurisdiction impose these limitations on homeowners/builders yet people live in much smaller spaces... and very happily.

You can attend all the REIAs and read all the books and sign up for all the conferences, and spend all the money, and you are will never really know you can do it until you do.Over 20 years in real estate in various forms and roles, action will beat out intelligence or education or even network 100% of the time.  

OMG curtains, blinds,..

I'm going off the understanding that you still need to spend 500+ hours in the business to achieve material participation (please correct me if I'm wrong). 

Always ask tenants to check to make sure it is locked.Another disadvantage is that you have to change the batteries regularly.Another disadvantage is you have to spend quite some time programming the locks and tracking the code3.

I spend $90 a month for one LLC, and $50 for another.

So your wife will spend 5 full days repainting the whole place and scrubbing the bathtubs.

For my area it isn't worth going the extra mile or spending extra money for something big and luxurious.