Now this company went one step further and recorded owner carry contracts to the end buyer  so more of a wrap program.. well those buyers started to default.. and since this team had the wrap they needed to pay the underlying and well it was a house of cards.. once they had 10 to 15% vacancy or non pay they could no longer debt service the underlying and now the original owners were getting notices of default.. and then they start filing complaints at the AD.. and well it becomes a scheme to the state..

You'll learn more from failing than taking zero steps at all.

Looking back, taking this step (not our first rental, but our first 1-5) was huge, and our income wasn't that high.

Looking back, taking this step (not our first rental, but our first 1-5) was huge, and our income wasn't that high.

Still with one foot into listening to Dave Ramsey, I did a 20 year mortgage instead of a 30, which initially reduced my potential cashflow.

That form/framework isn't really there for investors, it's there for new construction when the initial appraisal is done before the framing is even done.

I'm pulling about a quarter mil out of some SFRs and trying to decide on buying a block of SFRs in Birmingham or stepping up to a small multi in Northern Jersey.

To be able to not only defer the cap gains from your initial investment, but as well as your new investment is amazing. 

You should incorporate those into your initial fixup cost. make notes of remaining life of big ticket items (e.g. roofs) and see how much money you have to save every month to cover those capex (which you can save from your rents).

Even if they don't know anything about rehab costs, and can't even find you the property, you would at least have the ARV part of the puzzle figure out, which is step 1.