That level of comfort came from establishing a great team to protect my investment.

@Huy Thai, in my state once the tax basis is established for the year, it seems to apply for that year unchanged.

Then build your credibility by working with an experienced group on your first couple of deals.

I  try to establish good repore with my tenants who know that my inspections, which are sometimes more of a greeting "Are there any problems with the rentals I should know about etc.

I am not employed at the moment, although my wife earns mid 60s and we have 660'ish credit scores with a BK7 on record 2 years ago.I live in South Florida, near Fort Lauderdale in Davie and established a non-profit a few years ago with intent to rehab/flip houses or possibly build on vacant land given by a local city top develop on.Aside from that, I am hoping to meet someone form the area who has been "down this road before" and would maybe be willing to at a minimum have lunch with me to give me some professional advice.Anyhow, nice to "meet" everyone!

I am planning on starting with duplexes to build some credibility, I agree 100% that there's no way I will jump head first into complexes.How would you suggest getting into renting duplexes with hard money/ private lending?

I am fully licensed in both my Life and Health as well as Fire and Casualty, and I think it would be good to be able to use them.I'm wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of an insurance group that specializes in real estate investing, in the state of California.I am aware of National Real Estate Insurance Group out of Kansas City, and they are a fantastic company, but they're not interested in establishing agents in California as of now.Also, any advice in terms of which insurance works best for rehabbers and why?

I hope some established investors can join us and share their wisdom, but if not, all of us beginners will get to compare notes on our journey into REI!

Having an established system with people and contracts is a huge saving!

If you'd like to connect I'm always looking for new opportunities for networking and establishing business relationships.