I flew out there every 3 months hand picking properties from listings.

Just pick your properties correctly.

I remember back when I was ramping up my own rental portfolio in those early-2000s San Diego days, I learned the hard way that ignoring “little” costs..like that termite treatment or the property manager’s onboarding fee..can turn what looked like a sweet deal into something that barely breaks even.Let’s say you pick up a property in one of those under-the-radar neighborhoods in Omaha or maybe on the south side of Chicago..markets I’ve seen a few colleagues dabbling in lately..you’ve got to be ready to get real about the numbers.

I have a client that I just picked up that should have been filing a partnership return since 2006 but filed on Schedule E.  

okc market is at historic lows for leasing(especially September) it has picked up some in Oct. 

You can pick their brain and they will mentor you for free.

Here's how I do my due diligence:1) Portfolio matching: (takes 30 seconds per deal)a) Have an educated opinion on where I think we are in the real estate cycles (financial and physical market cycles)b) Then and only then do I pick the strategies, capital stack, and specialized asset subclasses that make sense for that opinion.

Quote from @Josh Holley: Quote from @Stuart Udis: @Josh Holley It appears you have a personal bone to pick with James given his brokerage is not even holding the deposit money.

(@Jonathan Greene DM us if you'd like to chat about them)Regarding turnkey in Metro Detroit, haven't seen anyone do it the right way:( We've picked up dozens of their clients that fire them due to poor tenant performance and nonstop repairs on their "turnkey" properties. 

As long as you stay invested and let your hard earned capital continue to grow, you can pick your spots when a real estate opportunity offers outsized returns comparatively to other investments.