Hello  BP, though technically I joined BP a while ago, I just moved to San Jose for my job purpose.I would love to be in touch with other fellow BPers for business as well as social contacts. :) I also happen to be scouting for a jumbo loan for my new primary-house (new reputed construction, ~$755K ) with 10% down, in Milpitas, so I would welcome any reference for that purpose. :) :)

Was it worth the late nights and early mornings, 16-18 hour days, stress, lack of social life....to me, hell yes it was worth it.

It was different for us though, because we worked for one of the largest corporations and they were concerned with safety of those showing units.

You're young, RE investing is lots of hard work, and learning the ropes now while you've got a safety net of a steady job is going to take so much stress off of your mind. 

My two cents worth, laminate flooring in social area and bedrooms, and porcelanatto/tile flooring in bathroom, kitchen

For my regular 9-5, I am the safety manager for a manufacturing facility.

In most markets from the onset of default that 20% of equity will not provide the same safety and recover-ability as a larger equity position.This notion helps us then keep the idea of discount in a little check.  

Im talking about a solid presence in the streets, in your circles of influence, in your social medias, in real estate blogs, etc?

What are your safety nets?

I've put in 12 - 18 hour days, 6 days a week, working on building this vision - from concept to logistics, marketing strategies, market identification, building a network of vendors, chatting with investors, building business development strategies that have passed proof of concept, creating hiring strategies and an online HR management system, building a social media presence, creating marketing agency-grade marketing collateral, establishing branding, website building, building relationships with hard money lenders, you name it, I've worked on it and achieved success there.