The remaining 10k was spent on materials, tools, and smaller electrical and plumbing contractor work.

Just keep trying to think outside the box!

My buddy spent around 50k with Than Merrill’s workshops and hasn’t done that well in real estate.

They are trying to fit you into their box rather than the other way around.  

Installed in 06, so I figured if I spent 3000 on that, what would it do. 

Spent more than hoped for but was worth it in the end; now has a one bedroom apartment upstairs and breadhouse / bakery downstairs.

At the time I purchased the building annual rents were about 75K, I spent maybe 20k total fixing units at turnover time, and did some clean up and landscaping.

I spent the last 4-5 weeks heavily researching PS and it is the heaviest restricted town in the US (as said by the town ordinance guy).

The rhetorical question is hyperbole, but it illustrates the point.Look to hours spent running and operating the real property trade or business.Something like continuing education hours required by real estate agents to maintain their license with the state would count.Hours spent by investors reading books, online articles, blog posts, not so much...

When Castle Rock first started, I quickly realized that the realtors that we were using simply slapped our listing on the MLS, put a lock box on the house, and showed up at the closing to collect their check.