So yeah I have had no luck except playing the banks waiting game.

Here are my few feel free to add more.Flexible (this game is unpredictable so you have to be willing to adjust accordingly).Patience (Especially in the beginning it takes time to get systems in place and people in place). 

Again I have no skin in the game yet myself, been educating and analyzing like crazy to this point.

If you decide to sell the hotdogs at the game for $1.50 cents more and pocket the extra .50, you have broken your implied fiduciary responsibilities.

It's a numbers game, but the lead flow can be overwhelming (and garbage) if you know how to do FB ads.

Fixeds would have me paying until that crash happens but HELOCs let me only pay when I use the money which I think is a better fit for my 'waiting game'.Of course, I agonize that maybe I'm just losing time by not investing aggressively right now with all the money I could possibly get but, for now, I'm trying to be more conservative (as opposed to the last five years of aggressive investing).

You can do this multiple times before the game is up, and it is a great way to pick up multiple properties quickly. 

But 50% of a watermelon is better than 100% of a grape as Mark Cuban would like to say.Here's the financial snapshot:~$650,000 worth of property~$520,000 worth of debt service~$130,000 worth of equity ($43,300 each)~$1,300 cash flow (after PITI)$0 out of pocketInfinity ROIInfinity knowledge$5,000 set aside for future repairs (money from bank refinance)Lessons Learned:-Plumbing is one of our largest expenses-Check all the electric, worth the peace of mind-Granite is worth the extra cost even on <$100k homes (better ARV, tenant proof and better tenant)-Section 8 isn't so scary if you've got a good tenant-Having a truck is a game-changer!

I’m a newbie in the RE investing game and have struck up a partnership with a talented investor in my area.

They have little skin in the game and usually have employment and other difficulties.