You can quickly learn things most Landlords never learn: how to screen applicants, how to stop little problems from blowing up, or state laws.

Wanna-be-entrepreneurs are a dime a dozen.Whether you are looking to-Invest in real estate-Open a bar or a restaurant-Open a service shop (hair salon, barber shop, mechanic, jeweler, dry cleaner, etc)-Start an online business (amazon FBA, dropshipping, content creator, education, etc)-Build a car rental fleet-Become a real estate agent-Build a landscaping route-Build a pool cleaning route-Start a vending machine business-Invent a new product (i.e. shark tank)-Etc etc etcAll of these pursuits can still be profitable, but there is just more competition than ever before due to the exposure and all of the relatively simple business models being exposed online.Real estate has fit into the bucket with all of these "simple" business models because investing in real estate is a very basic, simple concept to wrap your head around.

The money is drying up. 

Like a hurricane blows through, the home is uninhabitable, so you get are paid rent while it sits empty?

Hey good forbid your leaves blow on your neighbor's lawn, COURT and fines.and do not forget about cutting your lawn " It creates allergens that humans are allergic to " cant make this stuff up folks.... 

This will offer greater significance as debt sources dry up.

Hi Tapanga,That payment is for an option to purchase that property so that no one else can circumvent the buyer leaving them high and dry.

The area of the roof under the gutters have some dry rot.

As you said, most GC's right now are pretty loaded up and realistically will cherry pick the projects they want and blow off the others.

It's recommended that you call all of them when you have a deal in place or they will blow you off.