I’ve travelled to 45 of the 50 United States mostly while I was touring as a professional actor and singer from Seattle to New York.

It seems the cons are rather obvious (diverting my focus and attention, having to find another network of professionals I can trust, less economies of scale, more travel) and I'm not sure there are a whole lot of benefits.

However I want to portray a professional business look.

Let me start by saying I’m not a cpa so this isn’t tax advice, go consult a cpa.From my understanding if your AGI is above 100k they start phasing out how many losses you can take (capped at 25k if you make under 100k), once you hit 150k then you can’t take any losses.The only way (I’ve seen) around this (assuming you’re married and you file jointly) is to have one of you be a “real estate professional” which means you spend 750 hours a year working actively on real estate and that you don’t spend more time than that on any other job.If you meet that criteria you can take unlimited losses and use that to offset other income, so in theory you could make say 300k and show losses of 350k and pay zero income tax.

So while a Fannie/Freddie loan will be a 30 year fixed rate that is pretty low...a portfolio loan might be an Adjustable Rate (which will make your payment change), or only a 15 year term (which will make your payment higher), or have a higher rate all together...and I have seen many a portfolio loan that has all 3 of those features. 

When the investment conversation and participation moves from the classes (the professionals, the experienced and the educated) to the masses it is an indicator of froth if not a market top.

I want to develop crediability and professionalism.

About six times we've treated workers to a professional massage after they've helped us with an enormous project.Ongoing, we often take our construction/trades contractors out to lunch on days when they are working most of the day on one of our properties. 

This will expose you to the different markets, expand your network and help you save for a dp.The other option (which I suggest, or worked for me when I started out) is to secure a property that will cash flow, complete your due deligence, complete a thorough analysis and then present it to a partner (friend or family) who will put down the cash, while you act as the industry professional with all the knowledge.  

Second just looked at 3 homes.These days as a professional realtor I can make an offer very much not needing to view inside.