The agent has skin in the game so if they are lazy and waste my time they will pay for it.

It's a numbers game Keep your motovated seller leads coming in consistantly.

But mostly want to learn and become more proficient in investing to establish long term success.

Be sure to establish some goals and narrow down your approach.

I established that goal prior to my knowledge of BP and the ability of investors to significantly speed up financial goals.

If the seller wants to sell to someone else then they might play a game of chicken with you.Did you show up at the closing table ready to sign documents??

With all the support around here, sounds like you'll be way ahead of the game.

I imagine that I can pretty much get a vibe about an older, established subdivision, but if I wanted to buy new or recently-built, let's face it, many of the big builders don't put out a great product and sometimes don't stand behind their work.

That way your buyer has some skin in the game and will be less inclined to back out.

Getting into a buy and hold with only $25k could be a problem too in CA, so you would have to venture into the desert cities combined with leverage or go out of state.Investing in a syndication may be tough because you would not be an accredited or sophisticated investor, potentially making you ineligible.I would learn what I could on rehab flipping and/or wholesaling, use that $25k as your skin in the game (after you get fully educated on how to) and build more capital from there.