Zig while others zag and you will have a diverse portfolio naturally.

I'm an agent as a supplement to my w-2 job and it's been a good thing for me for the last couple of years.

What blocks or areas to stay away, natural barriers that block the path of progress (large roadways, rivers, tracks etc.)

Much like yours the water was literally seeping up through the hairline cracks, but our sump pump was running constantly but spewing it out on the 'upstream' side of the natural flow.

I completely agree that cash flow is heavily scrutinized, espeically here on BP...but in my opinion, that's because the majority of newer investors need to build their cash flow to leave their current jobs.So while it makes sense to invest for the long term to build generation wealth the short term for the average newer investor on BiggerPockets is going to naturally focus on cash flow in hopes of covering their W-2 income.  

It seems like the natural progression of most things once you master something, you then become the teacher. 

I was using Quickbooks for our other endeavors prior to our real estate investments, so it was natural to use Quickbooks for our rentals as well. 

That decision is based on looking at the specific kitchen in question and taking into consideration the natural lighting, the layout, flooring and wall colors, etc etc.

I have a software development background and had worked on simulators (for traffic analysis) many years ago, so it seemed like a natural way to become more familiar with the interrelationship of various real estate metrics and produce a usable tool.

I did a lot lot of research on the grey and the thing to know is greys can change a lot based on natural light and which way the room faces.