Sounds like a few lessons will be learned and while it is a pain it is always good to learn. 

It is an absolute nightmare with the influx of inquiries to have to deal with a totally separate platform of communication and then makes it a royal pain in the arse to keep track of scheduling.2.  

If you can connect with investors and genuinely find their pain-points and can deliver solutions effectively and efficiently you will move closer to your goal of investing yourself.

Two tons that LOOK great on paper that I would not invest in are Rockford, IL (or Freeport as it is just as bad and next store to Rockford) and Clinton IA (where I own a 14 unit building I would be happy to sell to you that cash flows great and is an honest pain in the butt)...so on paper the Clinton property looks great, but in actuality it is not good: City is horrible to landlords, tenants have lots of issues paying, it is like Rockford where you feel it is the nicer part of town and then realize there is no nice partI would suggest you look at Iowa (anywhere but Clinton unless you want my place!)

I think they are definitely not perfect and have growing pains and 'headwinds' they face with that growth.

I only sell if it is causing pain, I feel that asset value has peaked or I already have specific opportunities that are better. 

We have a tier two lender in which credit matters even less BUT WHENEVER you hear that statement, rates will be much higher along with the pain.

I have no issues investing my own money into my properties, but its a pain to use almost every last dollar I make on them.

Much less painful than the headache of not having the necessary systems in place. 

There is a lot of psychology involved in avoiding bad tenants, which I am sure you already know.