Risk mitigation is essential to successful investing.

Just imagine that you are going to be hiring the cheapest guys in town to do it, because that's essentially all home depot is doing.

I don't have a lot of cash laying around and typically have very little left over at the end of each month but am determined to start collecting rental property.  

The concept you heard about at REI club is essentially a lease option, which seems to be unacceptable in Texas past 6 months. 

We do turnkey in Birmingham and we focus solely on B/B+ properties, which typically run from $65k-$120k depending on the property and the locations, average rent of $950, so we know the area well.

I will tell you that I have learned far more with this company than any typical real estate gig or seminar will give you in a short amount of time.

For example, one of my typical whole house rehab budget sheets will be in the 5 to 6 page range, with SKY level detail to follow the rough fixture budgets.

@Daniel PattersonDefinitely check out Frank's book like Roy mentioned, but we typically use Cash-On-Cash Return, Cap Rate, and Cashflow after all expenses, renovations, and debt service.

A virtual ssisstant who usually works for you out of this country and will typically be cheaper and good at what you need and you typically communicate with you by the computer.  

They may still put a time line (typically 60-90 days), for their own protection if you decide to buy that property with another agent.