I would have the upper hand on a lot of local realtors.

Be mindful of title seasoning issues specific to the lender you work with; a majority of conventional lenders require 12 months, but there are a handful of cos. that offer <12 months/< 6 months/no title seasoning to address this component of your plan.

I do know some smaller licensed contractors, they tend to be very picky about how they spend their time.On the other hand, contracting is pretty irregular, with very slow times.

BTW, in 25 years of having rentals in TX (as many as 16 at one point) I NEVER had a tenant go to court and get any money back from me.I always handed the tenant a copy of the checklist once we had completed the walktrough.

I've got my tool belt on and a sledge in my hand.

I am looking to start investing in real estate in the next couple of years and see where i can go with it. for now i am just trying to gain any first hand investing experience i can get.

But now I am just working, I have more time (and money) to get my hands dirty.

Cash in hand (aka equity in one form or another) is opportunity to make even more money, and should never be squandered.

if someone is going to take a chance on you, you need to do all you can to educate yourself on the business at hand -before they start wasting their time on you.

The Eagle Center has a handful of condo areas available (they are selling shells for people to develop themselves).