@Harden Barkley You are right on target.  

If you need to live off some of the cash flow now, the minimum I would target with a private lender loan of 8-9% is $200/month after PITI, modest vacancies and repairs.

They are what I refer to as shiny objects of distraction".There's a famous expression for this, "Penny wise, pound foolish", or this one, "Stepping over dollars to pick up a penny".

Given wage and inflation are pretty closely tied together and Fed is targeting 2% inflation, we should see rate increases if wage gains go above 5%.  

I've tried targeting the real estate market, and stopped barkin' up that tree.

Now I know I need to target smaller banks!

No you would say go to Walmart or Target, because why, they are the biggest, most trusted store out there.

If you own rentals, using a program like TurboTax is, IMHO, being penny wise and pound foolish.

I'm happy it's inconvenient for the guy that wants it dropped in his lap.Serious investors will figure out what data is important, create databases that include the important fields, and either take a laptop to the data place (aka courthouse) or delegate the job to another to research and collect.And then the real fun begins when you create direct response marketing campaigns to reach and convert these leads to prospects and then monetize them by doing deals yourself and referring out the off-target for profit.

When you become knowledgeable of your target market, you will be able to make swift decisions to take advantage of opportunities, but as a new investor, you have to learn what that is before you make any rapid decisions and make a bad deal.