I'm wondering if any investors who started out as DIY'ers on their first properties (or all) pursued a builders license, did the work off the record or perhaps have any insight into the thought altogether? 

Anyone have any experience with Richard Neely Real Estate or All-Ways Agency? 

I am running into walls with some of the finance requirements having to have been a business for two years, putting up personal assets and/or all banks or lenders I have spoken to for business loans are not doing anything for real estate at the moment.

If you can find a property, say a duplex for example, in which the current market rent for the other unit covers most or all of your total monthly cost, and you can secure long term financing for it, it would be a win in my opinion.

Once you have a chance to give it a good crawl through, let me know things such as:1) Foundation (rubble, brick, block, poured, encased rubble, etc)2) Framing - ballooned framed, western platform or something else3) Wall section:Cladding - brink veneer, clapboard, shakes, masonite, vinyl, multiple layers, etc;Outer sheeting - plank (square milled or live edged); plywood; OSB; hardboard;Insulation - None, R5 paper-backed rock wool; R5 - R8 fibreglass; blown; UFFI; etcWindstop - is there a layer of lath-and-plaster in the wall cavities;Vapour barrier - is there one, is it paper or plastic.  

The two year rule is that you must own AND occupy the property as your primary residence at least two of the five years prior to sale to exclude some or all of your capital gains from taxes.  

Another thing to keep in mind is that the BRRR strategy works best when a property is bought with low leverage or all cash.What’s your property buying criteria?

You can use a note and sell part or all of the obligation for cash to you, but you'll need to provide guarantees on the note, selling a first position and keeping yourself in second and when you do something like that you usually don't get much cash out in relation to the sale price, but that depends on where you are in the property..Another way is to sell it to an investor and put them in there with that investor, but you'llneed to make room for the investor to profit.

The backstory or all this other nonsense that people talk about.

You have a governmental authority using its power to hinder and regulate private transactions creating some kind of “litmus” test based on god knows whatYou have a seller remaining in a home he sold indefinitely.You have a lender that has twice filed for foreclosure You have a profit sharing arrangement upon resale with the seller/tenantYou’re performing repairs/maintenance on a house while occupied by the seller/tenantAny or all these are lawsuit magnets.If you buy a property, and the seller is a consumer, not an investor, you should NEVER do a profit participation.