(Creating a contract to protect the both of us if things go south) Nippon Real Estate does a lot of podcasts and provides value for foreigners wanting to invest in Japan.Properties newer than 2000 are structurally sound to last a level 6 earthquake.

I am sure working for the Home Vestors Franchise gave you a lot of tools/skills on getting undervalued properties.

Some of us have a lot of experience and could make that $20k stretch into something, but we have skills you don't.

Since I have been using Padsplit for my first 3 investment properties I don't have the skills built yet for marketing or rent collection. 

I never was able to coordinate a consistent quarterly meeting for planning, I never knew who to contact because they have multiple levels of their workers and people were constantly moving in and out of the organization.  

The real skill is understanding the variability and risk in each number which is not always numerical or scientific.

Negotiating favorable terms is both an art and a science, and in real estate, it's a critical skill that can make or break a deal.

While the initial years might not be financially lucrative, the knowledge and skills you acquire will be invaluable.

My clients are mainly real estate developers, PE funds and individual investors doing syndications and my core skill is in real estate valuation / due diligence across real estate asset classes. 

We have tried to take all the skills we have learned in our W2 carrier and apply them to our personal business.