If the first offer is accepted you've paid too much.Follow up is the magic sauce, track each property and call periodically to "check" on your offer.Never use a buyers agent.

That said, the funkier “hipper” part of Riverside has some cool building by the train tracks.

I will say that for lenders, if you're going to meet one it helps if you have a deal you've done that you can talk about with them, or a specific deal you're considering - or at least some examples of what you're looking for, and the more specific the better.Basically, the more that you can show that you're serious, either by having a track record or by being able to talk intelligently about the kind of project you'd potentially ask them to lend on, the more seriously they'll take you as a potential borrower.It's not unlike a startup seeking funding from an angel investor, there's a whole psychology to it as far as showing that you have some knowledge and presenting it as a safe lending opportunity for them without coming across as "needing" the money because any hint of desperation will turn off a lender or investor quickly.BP has some great resources on this, you could search Bigger Pockets Raising Private Money or something like that.

Track all of these renovation costs they'll add to your depreciable basis once you do turn it into a rental. 

On Bigger Pocket Podcast- Tyler- Wholesale King- used a system to track leads- Please can anyone remember the Source- and he also used a text system- can anyone remember the sourceThank you 

I'm on track to be there 8 years early.

I hope you're not losing track of your dates... earlier you said DD was until Monday but now it's the 18th? 

@Matt Mulvihill  I would simply tell her that the last time he tracked mud into the property and peed on the floor. 

After listening to the podcast and reading some articles I've started creating much better spreadsheets tracking my 3 rental properties.  

@John Lutkenhoff sounds like you are on a better track than you were a month ago, so that's good!