It seems you are falling for the alarmist rhetoric you’ve been reading and watching online.

I just bought all the drywall, cement board, and a 3/4 full thing of red guard water proofing that I need for my entire bathroom remodel for no joke $110, that would have cost me $400+ at the store but someone else who already finished their bathroom just had a ton left over.

The use of online classes has been increasing every year and are projected to continue to increase.

The majority of buyers appreciate the expertise that a good agent provides (local market knowledge that can only be gained by being active in the market buying and selling all the time, looking at most of the new listings in person or at least online daily, a background in or at least understanding of building construction, relationships within the network of professionals in the industry doing deals, vendor referrals, legal protection through E&O insurance and keeping up with constant changes in approved contracts and required disclosures and forms, negotiating skills (the average person is terrible at negotiating directly and has no desire to, I find Americans are uniquely averse to negotiating and prefer to outsource it but I digress), etc.).

I'm currently going through Pace Morby's book and video companion guide from the Bigger Pockets Store.

check the local municipal code, most are online.

I’ve got that Arizona license #AZ-21837, and I lean on a pretty wide network of top-tier realtors and boots-on-the-ground pros who can give you insights you might not find by just browsing listings online.

You can find different strategies on how to find and reach these folks, such as driving for dollars, targeting mailing lists, networking with Realtors and other wholesalers, and having an online presence, plus paid social media ads, etc.

A tough thing we've found though (like you mentioned) is even the highly rated foundation folks in our area -- as well as a lot of the content online -- all have a strong incentive to sell big high-margin solutions.

Does anyone have any excel/spreadsheet templates they use for organization and having a place where you store that budgeting and timeline information?