@Sharon Thorson Wow, You are definitely willing to put in the grind to get started.I'm not in Cali, but my business model is primarily built around foreclosures, I would say at least 75% of my acquisitions have been foreclosures, and I've acquired around 30-35 properties since I started investing in real estate 18 months ago. 

Thank you all so much for being willing to share your expertise.

How long would you have to do this model until you were ready to purchase your next house hack? 

Your judgement is based on your singular bad experience and is in no way a reflection of our business model. 

There's a lot of competition for duplexes and other house-hacking opportunities, especially when they're move-in ready like you would need for a VA loan.One of the strategies that I've seen work really well, but is often overlooked, is the rent-by-the-room model.

But this certainly isn’t my area of expertise. 

Caveat to this: if you find yourself walking away from 20+ agents, maybe the problem is your business model, not theirs. 

@Kristina Xie I would suggest checking out the turnkey real estate investment model.

I've considered spending the money on business like anderson (but that seems like a lot up front and then just giving them more and more-maybe I dont really understand their model), going through legalzoom, just doing it (which i hear is not as hard as it seems??)

@Semi DevilIt truly depends on the landlord, type of house, their business model and the tenants.