BOTTOM LINE - ALWAYS SELECT/ENGAGE  an unrelated 1031 Intermediary company.

With alot of help from family, friends, agents, attorneys, title team, skilled laborers and handy folks of all sorts ,and, while avoiding pitfalls, buying right, and staying engaged I feel very lucky to be working on my $2M.

I would have to supervise more, provide all materials, and to some degree, work along side them.

Never go on a listing appointment without knowing exactly when they plan to sell.You must qualify your prospects and have the proper paperwork ready before you engage.

I’m 23 engaged and a father of 2. 

Long answer: find investors or partners who are willing to lend you money or to invest alongside you.

On the days when our cleaning crew isn’t able to, we do the laundry and cleaning and pay ourselves the cleaning fee ($120 each clean).So that was something we did, without an advance plan to engage the kids in business...and it is doing well for my homeschooling crew. 

My understanding would be that a platform is just a way to do it w/out having to meet / know / engage people.

I don't feel comfortable bringing on investors if I don't have my own money right alongside theirs.

However, one thing I did do right during my time of employment was to engage in employee stock purchasing options, 401k and mutual funds that pulled directly from my check.Once re-employed (at an albeit 25% lower wage) I vouched to never leave myself in such risk of financial peril again.