The tenant screening is the key, as I am learning more and more. 

Here are the key steps to take.1.  

Passion is the number one key.

I'm about 7 days away from closing on my first real estate deal and the thought occurred to me that instead of wasting time (and closing costs) dealing with a bank for the initial loan, I could simply use myself as the source of "private money" for the entire purchase (~40k) for a home that I intend to rehab.The rehab is expected to take 3-4 weeks and I already have a reputable contractor with a written estimate in hand and the cost will be a ~25k additional (worst case) on top of that.  

I mean I had not heard about it as a viable market and I have a pretty good idea of most of the viable markets in the country.. so right there I am thinking wow.then I had done a ton of deals in the deep south and the same homes that were worth 20 to 50k in Memphis were selling for 200k in Charleston same house same condition.. and none cash flowed.. so I knew right there that these were basically all being sold to owner occs and that's where the real money is made in the flipping business unless your going to be a high volume turn key company.So then I am following Boeing pretty strongly being a private pilot.. and I understood they had battery problems with the 787 but they got those worked out..

I guess private investors maybe a good source.

The key word is "some", as it's not a simple rule. 

The key is finding those people and making sure you can work with their personality and vice versa.

Education is key.

I hope to use the rest of my time in college to add to my toolbox of information and use BP as a major source for that.