a)Having some sort of experienceb)A real estate networkc)Actual property taxes in your named)Assets which produce a positive cash flow allowing you to be free of a jobe)Consistently, taking actionf)Using real estate strategies and formulas g)Submitting offersh)MarketingI)All of the above and then some : I think all of the above and then some.

who do 90% of everything from some sort of cellular enabled mobile device or smart phone.  

Staging, offering a buyer agent bonus, open houses, robust marketing will help, but they are only the sorts of things that move the needle a bit.  

As they are box-shaped we think they are some sort of radiator that partially burned the floors.

Just my two cents.We will continue to BRRRR, but will only refi out to the total amount that we have in the project (purchase + rehab + soft costs)...as tempting as it is, we like having additional equity built into the projects as a "reserve" of sorts, but also as a safety cushion in case things go bad.

Is what I am seeing some sort of strategy for pulling income or tax benefits?  

I think there is some sort of myth that if you have a manager their will never be a problem.  

I have a few questions: so just to be clear, I would still have to go through the process of connections and networking to get the same business jobs if I had some sort of business degree?

It might be close enough that it makes sense to pay a hair more to have someone else deal with them all together.Besides that, I am a strong advocate of keeping-it-real with your tenant.

Your market is a bit of a different sort of RE beast, so it does not surprise me at all that you may have a hard time applying stuff you've read online and in books to your local market, and think you are on the right track to find a local mentor.My advice on next steps would be to figure out what things a mentor like the one you describe would likely need or want, and then position yourself to provide one or more of those things to them.