Those in themselves are great education.Degrees won’t help you much unless you are trying to get a job at a large fund.

This leads to state funded insurance which will be very costly because only those at highest risk will participate in it and if the losses continue, they eventually will need to get the money from someone (rest of people in california?) 

If you're going to reinvest the proceeds you might want to consider a 1031 exchange or a cash out refi to generate the investment funds you desire for your next project.

How do I acquire the funds to build an ADU to the property?

These questions come to mind for me: Is your credit card limit large enough to fund the purchases and rehabs you are considering?

Everyone will tell you it’s great to get started early, or you can just move after a year, but in the current environment in our region the rent your property will generate after you move out will likely be less than your mortgage, if you are tied to the area and feel confident you want to stay in whatever property you buy for 3-5 years go for it, if you want flexibility rent and throw that money into and index fund. 

I still have my W2 that I’m  not ready to walk away from since it is funding my real estate investments.

Just make sure you keep enough in an emergency fund in case a roof or furnace goes out. 

We were able to exchange most of the funds.

One of my connections will fund the rehab for less and give it all to us on the upfront to finish the project at a lower cost.