Thanks for the mention, @Dmitriy Fomichenko.If I knew a generic answer to your question, @James Maness, I would've been a very rich man, spending 5 minutes a day copy-pasting this answer to every email I receive.There will be some people replying to this question, telling you their stories - how they got out of the rat race.

If you want the contingency in there you could write the contract dependent on getting the HML but if you already know the lender and know that he can close the deal you can make it a cash offer with a quick close. 

@Rich McElaney glad to hear it and good luck on your journey.

There are plenty of forums on here with different book recommendations (rich dad poor dad, millionaire real estate investor, etc...).

I'm part of a super rich community of entrepreneurs  and have access to some killer referrals if you need them.

So I wanted to share one in case it helps someone on the fence about getting started.Going to try to give the super quick story:  There was a great property in downtown Houston. 

@Chaz Mathias I agree that the market is overheated which is why I would be budgeting to be able to list below market value for a quick sale.

If you talked to me last summer when I was sanding glue off wood stairs I would have told you this is going to be a long hard haul, but that hard work opened a lot of doors rather quickly.

My main concern with managing myself is that I live in California and obviously would not be able to respond to emergencies, etc, very quickly myself.

What's their schedule like, and how quickly do they get back to you?