Both have since been paid off and they enjoy $2200 per month rental income.They said that the fact that the duplexes were single story and right next to each other was a huge ingredient to their success.

So I don't think the ingredients are in place for a flood of distressed inventory like 2008.  

The three ingredients for scaling:1) Inventory - need projects to do2) The right team - need good property finders/analyzers, even if that's you, you still want others3) Money - This is where Hard Money comes in.Yes, terms will get better for most lenders as you go. 

Integrity is a key ingredient to the success and growth of a business. 

The key ingredient is a good PM, they will make or break you at this level.  

Then the 2nd phase of the JV had us and the first developer do a further joint venture with Lennar Multifamliy Communities, where we brought the now fully entitled project to Lennar, and they brought the biggest part of the capital (it was close to $100M of total capital) to the table, and where they also provided the construction loan guarantees.So the way to think of it, is take all the necessary ingredients to a project, then divide them up among all parties as needed (just watch that you don't divide the pie too much). - Land- Capital- Experience/track record- Loan guaranteed capacity/financial capacity- City/political relationships- Build capacity/expericence- Offer, i.e. the design of unique mix of any of the above that makes a project competitiveHope that is of help.~ Scott

I think a key ingredient is being disciplined with time; making myself set aside the appropriate time to write/read posts, ask/answer questions, and overall engage others.

This is a clear example of why persistence and grit are the key ingredients to success in business! 

You could dump a 10% bleach and 5% lye solution down such a line (the two active ingredients of Drainex) all day long and it would never spring a leak or "make holes in the drain line."

The network will be the most important ingredient to the equation though.