I'm also in Chicago (like @Jonathan Klemm :), and am always looking to connect with more female RE investors, especially those who are actively doing, or aspiring to work on, fix & flips.

I dont know who wants to buy RE with no real expectation that the asset will appreciate a fair bit over the hold period..

: I understand that there is commercial and residential, but there has got to be subgroups While I don't think you need to niche down immediately, some specializations in residential RE are:- Co-op- Condo (incl. luxury)- SFR (median pricepoint)- SFR Luxury- MFR- RentalsThere are a ton of commercial RE specializations including retail (various types), restaurant, other food/bev., warehouse, storage, and dozens more.What should I expect when first coming into the profession ?

They do share their secrets in how you can buy RE using credit lines to pay down your mortgage off in 7 to 10 years.

I think a lot of people are hoping a mentor/coach/RE guru, will hand hold them and they buy X amount of properties and generate X amount of dollars in rental income and they become "financially free from their W2 job" and wealthy. 

I have 2 good friend RE agents available if need be but I think this might be a "transfer of loan deal" just depends.

go to Anthonys RE school take you a few months and your in business.

When I was active, the O-4 Good Idea Fairies always tried to re-invent how we did business, and 95% of the time, they overcomplicated a simple process making our lives way harder.

The power of leverage is one of the main benefits that distinguishes RE from other investment choices, and the refi is where real wealth is made.

(R-E, R-1 6.