Hindsight Critique•Continue to build relationships to increase deal flow•Property manager (Mercer Hughes) is critical to completing renovations and quick tenant placement•Continue to build relationships with private lenders and personal investors•Have cash available to make quick competitive offers Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Find the REIA group for your areaAs Henry noted, post something specific for your area and tag your market.Get on Loopnet for your area and property type, reach out to the brokers that are listing deals and offer to take to coffee (they are often invested in deals too but you could ask for connections to other operators that might be getting started).And, again as Henry noted, each person you meet, ask them what other networking events they have attended that you can put on your list.

What will happen is you'll continue to waste time being drawn into the tenant's circle of drama.Just stop engaging.

What I love about Baselane is that it was built BY real estate investors FOR real estate investors so it's really dialed in to what you're going to need in order to prepare your taxes, keep your books up to date and the more operational aspects of being an REI like tenant vetting and processing rent payments.

It's just not how successful people operate.

I've gotten good results from Ninja Skip Tracing and Skip Matrix for my cold calling operation.

It's an A-framed garage with shingles roof, gutters, windows, and a 32" exterior door (in addition to a 16' operating face door). 

You may find this a viable option with rates where they are, especially if your rental income continues to cover the mortgage.Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC): If your property qualifies, you could use a HELOC to access the equity without disturbing the current mortgage.

Even after moving 2.5 years ago, I continued to self-manage because I had a solid network of connections that made it pretty easy to handle remotely.That said, it eventually came down to wanting my time back.

WordPress, especially when paired with plugins like WP Rentals or a property management system, offers more flexibility for custom features like dynamic calendars, booking systems, and integrations with platforms like Airbnb.If you're planning to grow beyond a few properties, WordPress can handle that expansion better since you can continuously customize it as your business needs change.