I was speaking with an experienced flipper / investor this morning who thinks the cost isn't based in reality.

But in reality, the bank guarantees you will lose money at the inflation rate, and real estate will usually yield a solid return in the long run even with some mistakes.

Most new agents make the mistake of thinking all friends and family will use them as their agent but in reality most everyone knows a few realtors so finding a niche and sticking with it will help separate you from the others... 

This ignores the reality that many states were effective and in many cases the tenants hiding behind the moratorium don't qualify for assistance.

But don't despair because although this is the case when you look at it myopically, in reality most investors go into multiple deals accumulating 100s of thousands of passive activity losses in their first few years investing.

The best tip, in reality, is to stop looking to invest with low or no money down.

I'm not sure if I'm going too much by the books because the reality deviates so much from the books.

that is so unbelievable to me, but A REALITY.....  

It's a shame you have to think like that, but it sounds like that's the reality you're dealing with.

So I'm kind of hoping for encouragement/reality check from anyone that has some experience in a situation like this.