They may be a better poker player than you.

This will be a pretty fuzzy estimage, since even very prolific rehabbers don't do enough deals to get really close to estimating the risk.As a point of reference, a professional poker player will have a reasonable estimate of his success rate after about 100,000 hands (at least that many) in a given game.

at least for IndianapolisWe sell to a really big player in town and out of the 25 properties we have sold them in the last year maybe one or two were over $30,000.  

I am assuming that he has more assets at risk.I agree with @Joel Owens you need to make it very clear the role of each player and the different exit choices.

Either she didn't do her research or she was hoping I wouldn't do mine.

A small time operation with a no name brand I would be concerned Mattress Firm is either going to be there soon or is already dominating especially in a 100k plus area. 54,000 is about the national average.I have seen Mattress Firm's take another space and building at the road even though they have the space in the center just to make sure nobody else can be there.Typically mattress stores do not have hardly any build out and have just a few employees, a phone, and a computer so operational costs are minimal.Mattress Firm is running 5 years zero % interest right now.

So I needed $58k in cash to do the deal ($8k down and $50k rehab).I always do mine as a 30 year amort and a 5 year balloon.  

Some of the big players in our area are sitting on around hundred a piece with tons of room in the sub division.One of the real big players blew in 5 or 6 roads in a huge sub division poured around 25 basement before winter rates went into play and they are still sitting as open basement to this day.In my area subs have become super greedy and want a fortune. 

As for full-time real estate agent you would really need to dominate your market to make enough commissions to then be able to invest.But then again, there are so many engineers out there that seem to be into real estate for some reason.

Every time I felt limitations, I would hear a BP podcast of somebody who maybe even started at a lower point than me and now is dominating real estate much more than I was and am.