What is the extent of your capital improvements? 

Make it your GOAL to improve upon that skill.

If there is no deal available you are better off paying down debt provided you always have access to capital.

Sometimes, if their lending criteria changes after you've owned the properties for several years, the lender will want to credit your sale proceeds toward loan paydown and effectively not allow you access to as much equity as you want from the sale of one of the two properties.

The IRA will need to have funds available to cover all the improvement costs in connection with the property.

In the event that it doesn't, a few extra hours each year is worth the direct market access a license provides.- Knowing your market is key - what better way to learn it than to have real-time access to all current sales, pending transactions, etc?

@Aaron YangI have access to a million cash and have been having trouble getting a deal finalized

I personally made the mistake of not following up with CRE agents early on, and focused exclusively on the MLS listings which I have access to as a realtor.

Also be careful not to over improve.

These mentorship programs are as much about access to resources (capital, loan qualification, vendors) as they are about education.