I know this message is ultra-contrary to everyone else' message, I just wanted to offer a different viewpoint. 

I completely understand that most investors prefer to deal/trust people they know however, in this business it's great to invest in people and he process because you never know what they might turn out to be (ultra successful).

Fortunately, we've added 8 apartments in the building, so I'm not ultra dependent on one tenant, so I can be a bit choosy.  

I have had houses where I quickly painted them with the Behr ultra white and had no problem doing so.  

In Tucson, we have professional real estate photographers that have ultra-wide angle lenses, but I had a heck of a time finding someone for a friend in Burlington, VT.  

Thrift shoppers that have less income tend to not drive enough sales per sq ft to justify an apparel store to have a retail storefront unless they have ultra low rents. 

Unless you are going to go ultra cheap POS (I have one but it is down right now so reliability is always an issue with this route) then borrow the money for the car at 2%-4% and invest the money you have at 8% .

For my portfolio at large, I budget for the 50% rule to be ultra conservative. 

I come from the investment banking background and I've met many individuals who are considered high-to-ultra net worth, and many of them have the capability to buy multiple houses in NYC but few do.

We had an ultra high efficiency furnace put in a few years back when we were living there so the yearly heating costs are fairly low.