Hi BP friends,I am new to the REI game but have in the past 2 months or so have been trying put my money where my mouth is...finally. 

I would start by giving the benefit of the doubt, keeps everything happier and makes it easier to figure out what's going on.

If you have a family, work 3 jobs to feed those little mouths and you just don't have enough hours in a day to do this on your own.. sure.. that is a good reason to get a mentor, HOWEVER if this IS your life, I still doubt you will make it simply because you have other priorities.

So these guys get cheap rent, and use the garage for only storage, come and go as they please and keep their mouths shut. 

I couldn’t be happier with my life!

I have barely marketed that I do it, it's mainly word of mouth, referrals, etc but I am very good at it so news spread pretty quickly. 

I have been on BP for a few years now and started with LTR in AL and UT. 1031 exchanged UT property into 4 Smoky Mountain Vacation Rental Cabins THANKS to @Avery Carl  which has now allowed my family to move back to East TN from Orange County CA and couldn't be happier. 

As a rabid capitalist, and an even more rabid, foaming-at-the-mouth environmentalist, I think about this stuff frequently.

Because we are dependant, for the most part, on word of mouth recommendations it is vital that our recommendations are valid.

Darvin, wow that's a mouth full!