Another way I've considered using to gain knowledge of the industry is to find a job doing something related to real estate.

If you sign into any of the several websites (airbnb, homeaway, flipkey, etc) that makeup the online rental industry, you have access to the calender of any property listed.

I think you can very honestly say that, as Matt says, that your informal partners are industry professionals and lenders.

Dave and Frank are THE experts on that industry.

We wanted to turn it over as quickly as we could to reduce holding costs, yet we both have demanding full-time jobs (teacher and mortgage industry) and two little kids (5 and 2).

As my time in the investment and RE industry has progressed, I am looking to move into the commercial real estate area, with specialized knowledge in retail properties.

All I see is a great manipulator and professional industrial psychologist that has learned how not only to play the game but play the game where he gets to make up many of the rules and game pieces as he keeps playng it.

@Leslie A. gives some great advise about mobile homes and I enjoyed her comments with regards to people having their negative opinions about the industry.

If you have a property that has recently been acquired and has no tax returns filed then the general rule is 75% of gross rents minus PITIA.The exception to the rule is if you rapidly acquired multiple properties in the recent year and those properties were different that what you were used to managing such as a purchase of industrial real estate when you were a SFR investor.

From my short experience in the insurance industry (5 years), we had a guy that hit some one while drunk (2nd (alleged) DWI accident), another fell asleep at the wheel and hit some one head on, some one hit a full school bus that sent everyone to the hospital, some one flip a car and a passenger fell out of the sun roof and the car landed on them.