If you can't keep control of your personal finances, you are highly unlikely to succeed in real estate investing.

I'd be a little suspicious of the HML because most want you to succeed - there's no glory in taking back a unit unless they've grossly underloaned on the value.

Anything smaller than that would require a more hands-on approach.To succeed in this field, it is crucial to adopt a data-driven approach, maintain perseverance, and establish strong relationships with developers.

Open to any suggestions on how to succeed, where to find deals, and where to make connections/local meetups.Looking forward to connecting!

Never hire directly.have these 3 and I know you will succeed. 

Long distance landlording when starting out can be very tough.The folks I see succeed the most have all had good W2 or inveting income flow from non-real estate when they started investing in real estate.  

There have got to be a few that succeeded right?

For those of you succeeding in the LA market (and I presume OC as well) what is the minimum marketing budget that you would recommend?

If you want to succeed with the endeavor education is the answer.

Leverage and the ability to force equity are two of the biggest tools.The catch: you will only succeed in RE if you have the "bug".