It's just an observation from someone you might think of as a "prospect".

Since we are both in the same area and you have been doing this a lot longer than I have, I would love to hear your observations.

The only ones who seem to be successful either have a strong referral business and don't even need to market to buyers or are already agents/brokers who come across the occasional wholesale type deal.Not trying to knock you at all, just giving some food for thought and observations that I've gathered.  

Since you've reached out for help, I feel like I first want to make some observations about what you've said, and then share some thoughts that may or may not be helpful:1. (+) I see you've only made 2 posts here on BP (at least with your current account?)

My parents were landlords (SFRs and a fourplex) when I was growing up, so I observed it throughout my youth - and painted more than my share of rentals.

Besides the moral implications, as a pragmatic matter creating and exploiting this sort of inefficiency in my observation over the years is neither scaleable nor long term sustainable.

I'm always ready to diversify myself by observing what's happening in other markets eg: Birmingham, Kansas City, and Jacksonville.

No rant... just an acurate observation about the challenging state of affairs in our "capitalistic" economy.

I have been on BP for a year now, just observing and learning.  

Unfortunately, based on my research and observation, Reston is currently not a good place to invest if you are looking to cash flow.