I will let you know I have trained and brought into production on a national level part time agents.   

You, quite literally, have to train yourself to be negative/cynical enough in order to plan correctly.

The meetings and training are usually worthwhile too.

I'm considering training a VA with a background in real estate and finance to underwrite deals for me (or at least fill out the majority of the financial model).

And it's close to the train station which happens to be 4-8 stops from NYC.

It is great that your investment turned out okay, but investing in rural towns with no internet (if that is what you meant), no comps and nothing to compare with is risky and the amount of risk for every business venture is the first and most important thing that has to be analyzed.

keep in mind private lenders are just that.. finding them on the internet is going to put you square into the sights of fake lenders who are out to steal your money.. they do it by approving you to fast and getting you to send them money up front.. they are pretty good at it.. you find private lenders through meetups and association with individuals you know.

@Jesse Felix if you can embrace the game of "how much money can I save every month", you will position yourself well for not just the first down payment on the first property, but the ability to maximize the opportunities you may find over a longer term.The game of "how much can I save" is great training for the game of "how much can I earn" when hunting and analyzing deals. 

I got good furniture, a purple 3 mattress, mounted smart tv with Netflix, Hulu (might add hbo/Disney +), 1 gb speed for internet, a crazy powerful router.

Sounds to me like this is you, and your buddy is bringing his vast construction expertise that he harvested from attending the FB training.