But in front of my boys (9and10)..Right before I pull up to a property to cut the grass..

Cut your gross margin by whatever you are asking him to cut his by and reevaluate.

Hello,I am in the process of purchasing one of my first properties that after the inspection I found out a lot of garage problems.It has bad roof, rotted wood, the garage door is old, the garage opener is not working (the electricity cable is cut), the concrete is in bad shape...

I didn’t start out part time, I jumped straight in as a full time agent and I feel this is the way to go because it forces you to stay razor focused on your business.

That being the case no contractor in their right mind is "cutting you a good deal" on a project months away that they get paid weeks/months after they do it.

However, with the beginners guide and listening to a few of the podcasts here, I can't think of a more straight forward way to earn passive income than owning and renting property.

You should not pay 70k for ~$650 in rent ($850 - HOA).I don't personally like anything with HOAs because I don't have control over when they are raised and each time they are cuts into your monthly cash flow and (double whammy) puts downward pressure on the asset value.The HOA doesn't cover any insurance? 

If you can get a job first that will allow you to lock down that first house hack to cut out your housing expenses that will likely be a good way to go.

I'm thinking that, if you can buy the house straight up (no mortgage), pay a lot rent of $1k and rent it out for $1,600-1,800...

And your broker may or may not be okay with being cut out of the deal.Can it be done, but complicated.