Both careers would see a sharp short term income loss, but once i'm established the money i'll make ought to be comprable to my next year income.

A big part of succeeding in this game is simply staying in the game.Make sure to take the lessons from this experience so it’s not in vain:•Always keep reserves.

Credit scores are a reflection of someone's ability to learning and understanding the rules of the game and haveing the discipline to play by them.If you already have good credit, already pay everything on time (autopay), then increaseing your limits will probably help you the most, because it gets your utilization down, ideally under 10%.Higher hanging fruits are average credit and account age (just have to wait for that I guess) and inquiries, which are sometimes unavoidable as real estate investors.  

Real- Estate  is a lot tougher game now because of technology now allowing buyers, sellers to access the market using the internet without using agents but  you do have hot areas that can support  more bodies .

With the right agent, you'll learn how to run the numbers and establish a network of lenders, investors, other agents, contractors... 

Most agents, I can tell you from experience, will not spend too much time on you since your so fairly new and at your purchase price your not a big fish so they will tend to put you on the back burner since heir return is not going to be a game changer.

Grateful to be part of this amazing community of go-getters and game-changers.

Nice thing here is property maintenance/expenses is turned over to the tenant/owner and you're out of the landlord game, but still get monthly income.  

That is the thing about the game we are playing....every job is diferent and you can count on absolutely nothing.

You can - 1) establish a trust for asset protection, 2) utilize the Homestead Exemption for property protection, 3) consider tenancy by the entirety for marital property (this might just be applicable to California, my home state)4) make sure you have adequate liability insurance for additional protection, 5) think about forming a business entity to shield assets, 6) and have proper estate planning for asset distribution.Seek tax and legal advice from experts in your state.