For example I know an agent that used to be a lender, so investors that don't have much lending knowledge could benefit from working with him.

The agent.A short sale is pretty much this in a nutshell1) Buyer is in trouble and sends hardship to bank2) Agent does analysis and comes up with price (Which is of course lower than what is owed to bank)3) Bank says, go ahead and put it on the market4) Somebody looks at house and puts in offer5) Seller accepts any offer that comes in because they want out (regardless of how much the bank loses)6) Bank takes weeks/months to pay for their own evaluation, look at how long on the market, run an internal appraisal, look and do a cost benefit analysis on the loan and property7) Bank accepts/counters or denys the offer (provided they decide to do anything at all and not just foreclose on the original borrower and take the house themselves)I have it happen monthly....

So if somebody owned a 1 Million dollar rental property and sold it outright, they'd pay cap gains on $1M.

For example, If you are using the place as primary home, you could save on capital gain tax when you sell it.

If you rolled an old-employer 401k into a new-employer 401k, you can access that portion that you rolled over.But if you buy real estate from your IRA, YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO GAIN SOME UNDERSTANDING of the limitations. 

There are quite a few benefits to having these things in rental properties, but their ability to instantly ritz up a cheap alcove tub/shower in a small and boring bathroom is incredible.A related trick that I've heard works wonders in appraisals is to rent the nicest stainless appliances you can for the kitchen and laundry.

Hoping to gain some knowledge and advice here! 

That way you can benefit from the forward momentum of cash flow to build a larger real estate portfolio.Cheers!  

@Darryl JacksonHow much you need can depend on many factors , the purchase price of the home , the rehab costs etc.Also if you are going to pay all cash or leverage ( hard money or private money loans etc ) If you don’t own your own home I’d suggest doing a live in flip or house hack as you can take advantage of low money down loans like an FHA loan for 3.5%Many people have used this as a way to start out and gain equity that they then use for other deals .It’s possible to do deals without your own money if you do a joint venture type deal but could be hard to find someone to partner without experience, might have to give up more than half the profit but still better than no deal .

My goal is to gain financial freedom.