Need to know knowledge.

Did you attend educational courses to enhance your real estate knowledge?

I agree with what others above said, that having a reliable, honest and knowledgeable team is the most important thing...more so than perhaps the location. 

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.

If so, I'd 1) join a real estate investing mastermind that focuses on your asset class of choice (multifamily, industrial, storage, etc.) and learn as much as I could - it's worth the $10k-$20k in both knowledge and connections.

Now some stayed with me and that was great but some learned that with a little bit of knowledge you can do it on your own.  

I just know I don’t have the knowledge yet to find a deal and a lower price point is appealing for sure.

Reason: I signed a new job offer at a nonprofit yesterday and having extensive knowledge of the real-estate market in Philly would be very helpful.

He is knowledgeable but he has no control over the GP.

If you’re referring to the “newbies” with $10k to their name that watch a video by Pace and get excited and pay for joining, go out with their last $5k and do a sub to with a “desperate” homeowner without revealing all the possible consequences (because they are unaware of the consequences through lack of experience and lack of knowledge and or choose not to inform the seller) then I agree, it’s probably going to turn out badly for all concerned.If on the other hand you’re referring to a seasoned investor with excellent credit, significant cash reserves, who wants to add a property to their portfolio without going through loan qualifying, and can pay enough to give the seller “walking away” money because of the low existing interest rates and or, and is dealing with a informed seller, then I find nothing wrong or negative about the transaction.