Start low if possible, offering yourself to the companies, and listen a lot of podcast from people that did this.- Partner is always better, but to put your name out there you have to do it yourself.

Do you want these people to leave or not?

But if you are trying to teach yourself pivot tables instead of hunting for deals or managing the properties, then these are a detriment.The thing with any analyses you perform, they are ultimately done for the benefit of the people viewing them.  

It's usually not worth it to bid because the clueless people are driving the prices up. 

I held the property for them for 3 weeks!

Very few people move out of storage in the middle of the winter and all locations around are full. 

Since I’ve increased my deal flow to a significant degree, I find that this technique eliminates the wasted time and effort of dealing with people who aren’t highly motivated to close a transaction.  

Trying to convince people that permitted work is better is like beating your head against a wall.

For people who have at least one investment property, what is one thing you wish you knew before making that first investment and/or one thing you would've done differently for that first investment property?

@Patrick Irish based on what you say, the Sec 121 Exclusion and the 1031 Exchange both seem like they'd be good options for you to defer capital gains on sale of the townhouse.Sec 121 Exclusion has 3 requirements: First, Determine whether any of the automatic disqualifications apply (acquired property through 1031 exchange in last 5 years, or subject to Expat taxes)Next, meet the ownership requirement -> you owned the home for at least 24 months (2 years) out of the last 5 years leading up to the date of sale (date of the closing)Finally, meet the residence requirement -> owned the home and used it as your residence for at least 24 months (or 730 days) of the previous 5 yearsThere is no “Wiggle Room” but there is a Sec 121 “partial exclusion” for people like you that missed the residence requirement by a few months.