It’s a reminder that in real estate, continuous learning and valuing experienced advice can save a lot of costly mistakes.

The forums are full of self-managing landlords who make little mistakes that turn into big mistakes that cost them years of cash flow (or more).If you want to be a DIY landlord, I recommend books, blogs, classes, or other resources to educate yourself quickly.

@Andrea LeeRecommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

@Fernando CarloIn our experience, the #1 mistake owners make when selecting a Property Management Company (PMC) is ASSUMING instead of CONFIRMING.It's often a case of not doing enough research, as they don't know what they don't know!

If I would have paid more, I would have bid more)They made a mistake and thought it was a different property (there are several with the same roadname but not the same Parcel - and this was professional who was bidding on several properties)Can anyone clue me in to what the heck is goin on here? 

So many mistakes.

You can hear real-world examples of how others have built their investment portfolio and (hopefully) learn to avoid their mistakes.4.

Made this mistake when I lived in the top unit years ago and looked to rent the bottom.

@Sharon McCants - I lean toward the advice from @Jonathan Greene on your question.Years ago, I made the mistake of forgoing quality for quantity, which led to headaches and a fundamental change in the way our company operated and in the way I personally invested.

@Kenneth P FordRecommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.