I work a full-time job (in finance) and am looking to initially start investing part time.

I have a great 9-to-5 job, but I would like to diversify my income stream by becoming a landlord.  

There are even Airbnb proprietors who rent out improved and permitted shed conversions for as much as $100/night.  

We can also have you out at our job site to witness work in progress

If you purchase an older building & do nothing to improve it you won't be able to command the rent or maintain the value. 

ERGO you are in foreclosure in the first place.GFC meltdown saw values drop 20 to over 60% in certain markets  .. your 70% LTV loan was underwater right out of the gate.So to answer your questions.In General... you have a foreclsoureyour value is 10% less than it was when you made the loan.. reason flipper butchered the job ... and again depending on state it could take 1 to 3 years to actually foreclose and of course your not getting any payments.. so your interest is wiped out. your cost of doing the foreclosure again state specific.. and I have never met a defaulted borrower that paid the property tax's  ( and again state specific how bad this will be).. you have selling costs usually 8% and you normally have to spend money getting the home marketable I have never met a defaulted borrower who left a home in perfect shape.So you add 10% market devaluation  8% for sales costs.. 3% for foreclosure costs.. 2% for back taxforce placed insurance and utls.. and depending on the condition of the home 5 to 10% for rehab .. you can see how this eats into your 30%  .. then take states Like were i live and properly filed mechanics liens are super liens they jump ahead of your mortgage.. this can be thousands up to 100 thousands if your flipper totally screwed the subs. 

I've seen numbers as high as $15k for the job.

It sounds like it use to be a little clunky back in the day, but has improved - but couldn't find any recent discussions on BP about Rent Monitor specifically.  

I've seen individuals jump right into investing by working with a mentor and essentially learning on the job.

I have an excellent day job that will afford me time to research and find properties (online) but i do not have any money for a down payment right now and am trying to dig out of CC debt right now that was necessary for me to buy my own new house and move.I gave my other house to my wife, we are amicable.