After reading tens of thousands of posts on BP, reading/writing blogs, speaking at national conferences, practicing for going on 12 years in the real world, etc. my main advice is to learn how to raise money.  

Education is our only defense (and offense) here. 

@Luke Calhoun mentioned the area REIA network meetings that you should consider attending.I second that and make mention of two that you should consider. (1) The weekly Thursday Mastermind luncheon at Big Daddies is always a great one for networking > http://www.meetup.com/REALESTATEinvestormastermind... . (2) Several of us local BPers host the Central Austin Real Estate Meetup the second Wednesday of each month @ 10 AM, Mercury Mambo Conference Room, Second Floor  > https://www.facebook.com/groups/616101995182672/Come join us when your schedule permits!

There are a lot of agents out there who have little or no experience assessing a property, rehabbing a property or managing a property--and if you want to accurately assess a property, rehab a property and/or manage one, then you should find an agent with that experience.When my agent and I are shopping, we are the first line of defense in the due diligence process. 

I feel like places like Vallejo/Stockton are long term bets... for the short term one might see some appreciation but they're a lot more sensitive to market corrections so one has to be prepared for that.Speaking of corrections, someone at the Sacramento RE conference last year mentioned that the biggest signal if a neighborhood will retain its value during a downturn are those with healthy mature trees.

I spoke to a Canadian investor at a conference and he said that he was getting .8% return on his rental properties.

Since I quit my job to focus on real estate full time, we've been paying our household bills and living on JUST her income, and putting 100% of the business income back into the rentals and acquisitions of new rentals.She has recently come to me, upset, feeling like it's "not fair" that she is the only one of us who now goes to an office M-F and pays all of our monthly bills (My $477 monthly truck payment, $540 electric/heat bill, groceries, both of our credit cards, and anything else we buy) out of solely her paycheck, and feels that I do not contribute.In my defense, I feel that me managing the rentals (meeting with contractors, looking at and aquiring new properties, and keeping the ball rolling in general) is my contribution, and going back to a W-2 job would be going backwards for me, with all that I've built while not having a W-2 job anymore.She feels like a "sugarmama" and "used." 

Make a connection with them and then follow up after the conference.

This is in addition to being in a group of similarly motivated people, getting educated via videos, conference calls and in-person classes, and also having direct access to Mark who has the experience.

There were 2 buses full of RWN conference attendees.