Then working backwards towards how I was going to achieve them.

Not to sound cheesy, but I am sure your mentor seeing you take their advice and wisdom, then achieve great success, is going to be the greatest gift to them.

I’m stoked to hear there are actual people successfully achieving house hacking in this market.

You will have a tough time achieving any sort of cash flow as prices are just sky high right now. 

That is how I started and with a great team behind me, strong focus, and clarity, with a little luck, I was able to achieve financial freedom in 3 years before I separated from the military. 

Set up keyword alerts to be notified of the topics that interest you: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alertsI hope BP helps you achieve your goals!

You want to install quality, not necessarily "high-end" and not low-end either, but the right materials for the market in which you're operating to achieve both a premium in rent and rentability.

Make sure to do proper due diligence (get a home inspection report, termite report, roof report) and get a clear idea of what the costs will be to make repairs to achieve a realistic ARV (after repair value). 

@David Hull what you are trying to achieve?

@Frank Lo - If you can get a lender to lend you additional money at sub-3%, any investor can make that money achieve a higher than 3% return pretty easily.