In all my properties I put in Egress windows because it helps speed of sale.

In cases like this a soldier who cannot manage his house probably doesn't just get it together and turn in to a high-speed troop on the ride into work.

Looking back, do you think there were things you could have done to speed up the process?

This original gain NEVER goes away.Actually, on December 31 2016 REGARDLESS of if the property is sold or not, there is a taxable event of recognition on that original gain. 

Believe it or not, you missed a few:Number of petsNumber of homes with/without garagesNumber of 1 story homesNumber of renters with childrenNumber of renters with jobs in the governmentNumber of speeding tickets given out at the main intersectionsList of favorite colors and how many of each. 

I then spent 250k to get it up to speed.. that's my point.. then I sold it  for 500k.. 

There is nothing wrong with the speed of implementation if you are making progress. 

Participating in the forums, attending webinars and reading the books are all great ways to get up to speed - but nothing beats getting out there and talking to like-minded investors.

It's difficult here to differentiate between giving good advice and advocating mentorship programs, workshops or courses to advance your one on one activity and thus speed up the learning curve and timeline to reaching and stretching your goals.I personally have gone the journey from DIY wholesaling, flipping, seller-financing SFR and international Short Term Vacation Rental management and then arrived at commercial multifamily and self-storage real estate syndication due to the fact that it offers the maximum scalability, economy of numbers and at some point truly leads to passive, residual income and thus to time freedom and choice.Send me a colleague request to kick the tires, set up a call and get a few burning questions answered in real time, one on one. 

It'll REALLY help bring you up to speed.