From a tax perspective, are there countries that are more friendly when it comes to tax advantages than others?

—offers unique advantages.

There's no shame in buying at your market valuation, as there is a ton of upside to take advantage of. 

The lessons you learned the hard way in 2008 will be invaluable now, and it’s great that you’re aiming to stay small-scale and within your comfort zone of Sacramento, which gives you an advantage of knowledge in that market.Given your experience, I'd say start by focusing on three key areas to build confidence and minimize risks:Budget Control: Over-renovating was one of the big mistakes you mentioned.

., mobile homes often lose value over time unless they are situated on owned land) and tenant turnover.However, tax advantages include depreciation deductions, which allow you to offset rental income by writing off the property's value over time, and cost segregation, which accelerates certain deductions.

With experience in construction and sales, you'll definitely be able to use those skills to your advantage when doing value-add deals.The better the deal is, the easier it will be to do the BRRRR method and you can find some of the best deals off-market, so it's important to build a solid network and create deal flow so you can see as many opportunities as possible. 

That being said, if it provides me a significant advantage or a starting point, I think it would be foolish not to utilize it.Therefore, given these two different perspectives/starting points, I'd love to hear any potential advice on which strategies/niches to focus on first, and for which starting point.

Plus, real estate often has tax advantages that stocks don’t offer. 

So the big advantage of turn key is that you get a property that the property management company knows inside and out to eliminate negative surprises and you are getting a great management company and a good, qualified tenant from the start.  

This can provide more lucrative opportunities by allowing you to take advantage of lower closing and holding costs while keeping much or all of your money out of the deal.Every investor starts somewhere.