Ditch the emails.

It seems like you have to crawl through ditches, climb fences, and shake palm trees to make the deals appear.

Don't crosscollateralize anything.6) Buy gold and put it in a ditch. 

I feel like a 48 year old Pro Wrestler that has been beaten to a pulp when I wake up in the mornings, from too many years or jack hammering slab homes to repair water leaks, hauling water heaters, toilets, and bathtubs up stairs, and digging ditches.

Unfortunately, you need to ditch the Realtor friend who doesn't understand the business..

It would be a great place to ditch a body

You will have storm water management, culvert piping, ditches, etc.

@Amy Ranae my suggestion would be to ditch the "Tax Lady" and talk to a real estate investor friendly CPA.  

My criteria is this, concrete block, not on a busy street, not flood, a good looking house, dated is ok, but it feels good when you show it, no goofy additions, nothing weird in the back yard like power lines or ditches, and if I listed it for sale, it would  sell in less than a week or two, my exit strategy.   

Plus I decided to put new plumbing in so we had to cut a ditch through the house.