The booming rental pool and hands-on property rehab offer control, though it comes with some sweat equity.

You may not make as much as you potentially can with direct real-estate, because you won't have the ability to put in sweat equity.

That annual maintenance that's being discussed is usually a mandatory thing (to keep warranty in place) and must be performed by a licensed Contr/Installer....I would always default to a good ole tanked gas WH (or electric if gas is not available on property) Yup, I run a low draw recirc pump, expansion tank and sweat in a line for the pop off to a safe place.

@Matthew Stallone appears they want you to have skin-in-the-game in the deal, so you put your blood, sweat and tears into making it succeed.

It is a 24-hr, 7-day business and every month there's issues but man the freedom and I love moving about, getting the sun and sweat on me. 

(used property 3 for this)Conclusion:I moved from an equity play making only $100/mo to a cash flow play making over $3K/mo using the same amount of capital and a lot of sweat equity.Bought for $270K waited 10 years and sold for $600K.

look here man i am brand spanking new not even 3 months and through meetups i have found myself using my personal skills (sweat equity im a carpenter) to a deal. i have 0 dollars invested in the deal. trust me man get to know everyonw go ro reia meetings , drive around see real estate happening in real time.

They passed first time, no sweat.

I also look for sweat appreciation opportunities. 

Looking for single-family up to 4-plex deals  I like to buy ugly and add sweat.