I'm presently a facilities engineer by trade, who does some construction and maintenance for landlords on the side, hoping to get back into the private real estate game.

My girlfiend and I are looking in La Grange and Brookfield which is not quite as fast west as you, but my aunt lives in Wheaton so I am quite familiar with your area.What's your game plan over the next two years? 

Since you are splicing multiple pictures, why not show a good one of the game room and other other key parts of the house instead of all of the game room?

The deposit amount when working with a lender comes from the lender - it is basically the amount of skin the lender wants you to have in the game. 

I would get back to local real estate investor meetups so you can connect with locals to the area and kind of get back in the game slowly that way.

This is a numbers game so you may have to take an aggressive approach towards negotiating several deals before one of them actually works out.

What tools or strategies are you using to stay ahead of the game?

Profit and loss will be a guessing game. 

Keeping everyone aligned—lenders, inspectors, attorneys—prevents bottlenecks that could derail the timeline.Lastly, tackling big tasks early (like ordering inspections or raising equity) is a game-changer.

In the past year we've been through the ringer financially due to bad contractors, deal promises, and generally just being new to the game.