The heavy lifting is in WORKING the deal, not uncovering a potential deal.

My inspector emails me the report and then I dive in and do the heavy reading.

Dr's, Nurses, Electricians, heavy equipment operators etc etc.. 

They both are not solved overnight.

This stock income (LTCG) along with the rental properties in Chicago, we have a life of abundance at the moment.With that being said, the rentals in Chicago do a portion of the heavy lifting by eliminating the housing costs completely while adding $1k extra each month to cover Cap Ex and other expenses.

We sold 3 locations that had little debt on them with great cashflow, stayed heavy in cash, our stock return was only around 11% versus 25% since we went conservative, have two projects banks have already greenlighted with no downpayment on our part using cross collateralization with other properties- built in $2.5mm equity creation in 3 years in those projects, on hold for now.  .   

He usually buys in C neighborhoods and has to do heavy rehab, but he's a construction guy that also runs his own property management company, so it's 2nd nature for him.

See the fact that mortgage rates are up about 1% from Oct when the fed started to cut the fed funds overnight rate as evidence. 

This topic is up for HEAVY debate. 

This means that every year, your IRR (Internal Rate of Return) will increase.4) In an appreciation heavy market like San Diego, the IRR is going to be the best way to calculate your earnings as cash flow is fairly low relative to initial costs (down-payment, closing costs, carry costs while placing tenants)5) To calculate your IRR, you want to use this formula: (Appreciation + loan pay down +/- Net rents)/ down- payment.you can include the Closing Costs, and carry costs, but I usually do not.