Direct mail has been effective for a lot of investors.

It's those maniacs that buy homes cash via quit claim deed off of craigslist that really get screwed.Make sure your property manager is a licensed real estate brokerage.Google Clayton Morris and/or Morris Invest for a cautionary tale of what not to do when buying turnkey real estateUnderstand you can not eliminate all risk, only mitigate it.

You can decrease or completely eliminate your monthly housing expenses, cashflow on top of that, gain appreciation, benefit from the tax advantages etc. 

@Joe VilleneuveTelling someone to sell what they just bought and start all over is probably not cost-effective for them.Right now he has a major safety net and in a great position to start leveraging, if he wants to, or continue to cover his butt with more owned assets and cash flow before he starts leveraging.

@Roy Puli - Definitely house hack first and eliminate your largest expense, housing.

For most effective use of his time have at least the outline of an operating plan in place.

They pick and choose the most cost effective projects to DIY and hire contractors for everything else.

Nobody knows right now because there isn't enough information to effectively underwrite your deal. 

@Joe HuberCo-star data isn't perfect, and all datasets are subject to outlier effects, so I wouldn't put too much stock in the actual 15-25% number as much as the directionality.

Take control of your personal finances right now, eliminate expenses that are not essentials (Netflix, car payments, that new $1000 iphone, that $120/month cable bill, etc) and start saving up that excess so you can invest.