A while after closing, reality hit home and what was a well-qualified tenant became a nightmare, the rehab that looked so pretty in pictures and videos were shabby, etc. 

You have to factor in vandalism, squatter, eviction, market trend, foreclosure, local authority citation, legal & HOA expenses to make it work.For too often, I see people bid up the property due to emotion instead of reality.

So in reality they aren't investors themselves probably.

Only your experience can tell you if the paper value would ever be a reality on the market.  

The unfortunate reality is that most tradesman are not businessmen and are very poor managers (of their own time, or anyone else's).  

Now that's much harder than it sounds but I bought some pretty neat properties in the 90's there One was up at Lost Creek Reservoir wish I still had that one.. it was an incredible property.But back to reality  4 plex that's what I would look for

Your 80's Austin, and my current reality are different worlds :)

Bily Elliott you need to remember that you are 100% financing the property, so in reality, your $180 cash flow is quite good.Run the numbers if you put 20% down ($10k).

We can let the same thing happen to us when we become anchored in the past.The past is gone and we have today to act based on today's reality.

Like any business the number one way to increase chances of success is to be well capitalized.Everyone talks about getting into RE with no money but the reality is your chances are probably 1-10% if you do that.If you have a good bankroll that allows you to put money down on property, pay for rehabs and make a mistake or 2 your odds of success go up to 50, 60, 70% or more.Lots of other things help a little, but no other single factor influences your chances of success as much.I tried to do this a few times in my younger days when I had little cash without success.