This might be as simple as asking the sales Person how much money will I need to spend over the next 12 months on the business to have a realistic chance of succeeding at this.

Then make the decision if being a hands on landlord is something you are realistically interested in. 

I hear so many things from door knocking to contacting your circle of influence but lets be realistic there is tons and tons of tools that make outreach way more effective.What would be a good way to market to get 5 listings this month?

I am newly married and have a hefty mortgage myself, but I manage to save a decent amount of money realistically 10-15k a year I have been working as a construction worker as long as I have been working I am a mason by trade and even though moneys tight I know I will be a successful investor even in the current market.

He was a good guy” and his information  on buying at tax or foreclosure sales was realistic and doable. 

Honestly, being very realistic, you do most of the time in the beginning have to do some initial discounting.

This doesn’t necessarily sound realistic in a real world scenario. 

not trying to be discouraging, just realistic. 

I’m a New York City native, but purchasing any type of real estate in this area is not realistic for me. 

So as long as someone gets realistic with the TRUE cost to  own and maintain and the numbers work it can work but I am a big proponent if your going to have these types of assets they need to be paid for to really enjoy any financial benefit.lastly I can say the same thing about new builds.. over the long haul unless there is REAL appreciation more than just 2 or 3% if you sell within say 10 years your going to be lucky to break even as your going to have to spend 20 to 30k making the houses fresh again to get top dollar a 10 year old rental is not going to bring top dollar and the value at that point will only be what an investors will pay for a given cash flow..