The other limiting factor is that we have two children and child care is not cheap.

Most lenders have limits on the cash amount of repairs to be escrowed.

It got us in the game and we worked with a great attorney on drafting the lease option agreement and structured our first Limited Liability Company.

The conventional loan limit, Fannie Mae/Freddie mac is 10 mortgages properties, after that you’ll need an in house portfolio loan or commercial loan.  

We don't have the time to do exploratory "surgery" to see what we're dealing with so we'll often "pad" our estimates just in case.

What makes a self-directed IRA custodian different is that they are not purely connected to the public exchanges and limited to investing in stocks, bonds and funds, but rather have the staff training and paperwork to document the IRA's investment in the more individualized transactions that occur when investing in real estate, notes and other non-traditional assets.

I was thinking in a limited scope and ARV of some local properties.

At the same time I have limited duty to the client.

You might want to think about your limiting beliefs.

Also, if you are not geographically limited, you can try to match up your talent/interests with an area that offers a more reasonable cost of living. $400k housing and $9k in taxes annual, plus the utility costs there, don't really make Vermont that attractive from a financial point of view (which is too bad because it's a beautiful state).