To Be, or Not to Be... a real estate broker!

[Kurt Scholtes]

Hey everyone, I'm Kurt - a newbie here- and I've been living abroad for most of my adult life. I'm thinking about moving back to America because I've decided my goal is to create financial freedom making $10,000 a month through rental properties within the next 5 years. Lofty goal? Perhaps. Especially considering I have no credit history in America whatsoever, not even a credit card to my name. I don't have any debt, but I don't have a enough saved up to comfortably get started with investing. 

I feel it's now or never if I want to start a new life back in California, and my thought for reaching my "financial freedom goal" is to learn everything I possibly can about real estate while on the path to investing. Which leads me to the question: do you think I should become a real estate agent? 

Pretty much with my skill set I believe I am qualified for sales, as I have been a teacher for many years. I don't feel like continuing to teach when and if I go home, so my thoughts were: pharmaceutical sales, government work, or real estate broker. I will need to have an income while trying to realize my goal, and it would help to establish credit along the way. I guess what I'm asking is: would become a real estate agent give me a great tool set for achieving my goal, and would you recommend this path?