Have every detail spelled out, use an escrow account and daily updates verifying all parties are executing their responsibilities.

Instead of their cash sitting in a savings account, they decided it would be a better investment to earn 3% on their money instead of .03% in the bank.

I had a mentor who stressed "you make your money when you buy"; the next place you get, be sure to haggle big time - and walk away if the price is not low enough.

They worked exactly how your retirement accounts are supposed to work but 3 x faster. 

I think the first place to start is evaluating quality deals.

It’s the place to be! 

It is a great place to live and invest! 

I'd really like to get a great team in place for long term relations and reliability prior to.

I once made the mistake of chasing multiple listings at once, which turned into a disaster.When I shifted my focus to serving one client at a time with honesty, integrity, and accountability, referrals started coming in without any marketing.

Quote from @Matt McNabb: I'm a solid $400k/yr job in NYC and have $250k to begin investing as my first step into building a portfolio, although I don't have time to be a landlord so I have to account for management fees.