I am an architectural photographer who photographs model homes for large national builders like Toll Brothers, KB Home, John Burns, Lennar, and Dr.

I generally go on someone's word that they are willing to work with me exclusively and it has only burned me a couple times in the past. 

Most of the carriers I’ve dealt with or encountered certainly won’t allow charcoal or wood burning grills. 

I would advise consuming as much content on personal finance and real estate investing as you possibly can without feeling burned out.

The time between 2008-2012 were fat times and profits were good as the margins were large and the room for error was significant.  

If you don't like hospitality and heavy operations management, and can't deal with Airbnb's dictatorial way of managing bookings, you will get burned really quick, especially if you don't have the higher-end properties that don't really get booked by people looking to party. 

I was going to purchase a place with a wood burning fireplace, and my game plan was either to convert it to gas or get rid of it completely.  

My advice to all the veterans I helped was this: do your due diligence, set very clear standards to what a property has to have for your needs, do not let the money burn a hole in pocket (causing you to betray your standards), and get in the game when you find the right deal!

Lesson learned - this was our first rental and we got burned by our first tenant (signed a lease and then never showed up so we had to go back through the leasing), the takeaway was to ALWAYS follow the procedure and never make decisions based upon a personal emotion.

My market the DC Metro area is a burning hot sellers market were prices are through the roof.