They had great variety and the people who were sponsoring those Meetups were actually doing various local and sometimes large RE investment projects. 

(Irregardless of the actual law, it would arguably make total sense if the landlord could keep the deposit until the end of a fixed term lease, as security for the outstanding rent payments that the tenant is obligated to pay; but what makes rationally sense is a whole different topic as laws not always make sense.)

It was actually what made me not consider this property anymore. 

Two of them are actually in Indianapolis Paul so your back yard. 

I'm actually a part of the Facebook group, but not active in it.

I know that I will only occupy a unit for a limited time, and the house-hack is just a way to get more favorable rates, better loan terms, and elminate, or severely decrease my housing costs today.I am sure there is someone on BP who has built some wild spreadsheet, or other model where you can actually calculate the value of no mortgage, but for me, as long as I am covering most, or all of my PITI while I am occupying a unit, and the deal works as a stand-alone investment deal, then I am done running numbers. 

page=1#p3749945https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/67/topics/624342-how-to-prepare-for-a-career-as-a-flipperhttps://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/55/topics/625011-new-to-wholesale-real-estateLearn to use BP to its whole potential - subscribe to BP blog and podcasts and start reading posts and listening to their podcasts collection.You might also want to read:The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide - https://assets2.biggerpockets.com/uploads/user_file/file_object/329/UBG_2018.pdf...actually the entire section: https://www.biggerpockets.com/guidesGet busy with the entire Education section on BP:https://www.biggerpockets.com/hubs/property-typeshttps://www.biggerpockets.com/hubs/financehttps://www.biggerpockets.com/hubs/strategyhttps://www.biggerpockets.com/hubs/finding-deals/analyze-dealshttps://www.biggerpockets.com/hubs/property-manage...

It is active income, as any other business and can be a full time job very quickly.Buying rental properties is an actual investment and it's for the most part passive income.

Actually no, it’s not “self evident” after 1 month.

I personally took the classes to get a license and was planning on actually completing my license, (though never did because I moved to CA), in MA for a few reasons. 1) The cost was low, I think I only paid about $400 for the course.2) The time commitment was low, you only need to complete 40 hours of instruction.3) If I wanted to get a license, I could do so and hang it with a broker simply to help myself with my own process of accessing the MLS and being more self sufficient.Having completed the course I can tell you that you will learn nuances to real estate that you didn't already know.