Somebody I know bought a car wash syndicate and lost money.  

Build a local team of experts, and after a year, refinance to fund the next purchase.

Why do you think they "lost your file"?

If your area is popular over Christmas, you could still get booked and with slashed prices you just lost some revenue.

Ensure you work with a team that is familiar with them (accountants / lawyers).A 1031 exchange is a way for real estate investors to defer paying taxes on the sale of investment property.

i think of that as 'holding costs' rather than lost rent. 

Hopefully as the rates and the housing market loosens so will some of these guidelines in the HML programs. from talking to hard money funds especially those who operate in more than 10 states, and 5 years of experience with underwriting teams, I'd actually disagree and say new construction is preferred to rehab due to experience level to enter the market. there's BP lenders that will do 15% LTC with 1-2 new build experience.

It is offered through Awesome REI-Patrick Riddle(another awesome team and distant Mentor of mind) I enjoy their style of teaching because of their honest, straight-forward, and experienced no fluff.

Personally, I'm very conservative, and I confine myself to sponsors that have a track record of at least one full real estate cycle with either little or no investor money lost.

Right now, I'm working with a team that helps find off market properties for investors which has been a great way to dive in and connect with experience professionals in the industry.