I learned from one of the gurus but I overpaid for the properties (which is what I was taught) in exchange for being able to buy them with little to no money down and doing seller financing.However, doing that proved to be not wise at all.You need to buy a property right and having cash or access to cash enables you to do that.I've since learned from that mistake.

Learn from your mistakes and find a better tenant next time.

Most of what I am dealing with now is cleaning up mistakes I made when I started.

Many current active sponsors in the apartment space started out as LP's to learn the ropes and learn from the mistakes of others first.

Many California investors probably made a huge mistake thinking they can increase rent like we do in California and I will bet there is going to be a lot of turnover and the ignorance will just keep recycling because there are millions of ignorant investors who go completely blind by the myths and false theories that they think will make a profit because every other idiot is paying ridiculous prices for rental properties in every and any locale.Just a wild guess?

Know that these properties usually end up being auctioned 3-4 times before someone actually settles on in because the property gets bid up too high and the seller backs out realizing their mistake.

This is what I tell almost every beginner I come across, they are focused on finding the perfect location to minimize mistakes they can make, but there is no perfect location!

Any mistakes or regrets with the first few deals? 

What if I made a mistake? 

Our banking regulators made a huge mistake by allowing amortizations to become fluid.