I can dedicate maybe 5-10 hours to this endeavor weekly. 

We have been reading post after post for the past two years from (1) members who are fed up with the market (2) members who are having a hard time starting in a hot market and (3) members who have highly appreciated properties but don't have an alternative investment option if they were to sell or exchange.Deal flow is king in this market and you have to (1) put hundreds of deals through the funnel via marketing and networking or (2) you have to invest with someone who has it.I made a decision two years ago to do more of the latter...to start heavily vetting passive opportunities with experienced sponsors who have mature deal flow pipelines (i.e. deep broker relationships, industry leaders, full time staff dedicated to deal flow, consistent off-market properties)...while still casually vetting direct owned opportunities. 

Not the case for someone smart, willing to hustle, and especially if they are a dedicated re agent!

I recommend keeping it simple and sticking with the lease (and let the PM handle it...don't dedicate mind share to these kinds of things). 

All:There is supposed to be additional guidance coming out this fall from the Federal Government and MN DEED has a section on their WEB site dedicated to this topic as well. 

Access to a dedicated real estate coordinator, kind of like your personal real estate concierge, who works closely with your agent as a team, is available to answer your questions and guides you through the buying and selling process. 

There are many dedicated offerings.  

If you are looking for a home to live in, then use one dedicated broker. 

I couldn't dedicate $200 to learn how to start with two little ones at home.

Moving to a dedicated flip 5, buy 1 buy strategy,  help me move away from a "transactional" mindset , flipping with no goal other than to increase the size and volume of flips (which was becoming exhausting) to a grower mindset.