Equity earns 0% interest (inflation will destroy your purchasing power) your real estate investment will Appreciate or Crash regardless of how much down payment you put on your home.

How does a Master Lease Agreement work, is that a good way too start in Commercial Real Estate?

Pending Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

A lot of forum members are experts in their respective fields related to real estate investing, whether that is real estate sales, wholesaling, flipping, buy and hold investing, lending, self-directed IRA and Solo 401k investing, or tax and legal guidance.There are some pretty nice discounts on many products and services offered as Perks to BP members that you might want to check out: https://www.biggerpockets.com/perks/proIf you haven’t been to it already, the Bigger Pockets blog features links to their fantastic podcast and many great articles: https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/The site has quite a few tools that can be helpful for new members.

I'd love to hear if anyone has become a licensed/certified home inspector to support their journey as a real estate investor.

All real estate transactions in SC must be conducted by real estate attorneys.

Did you use a real estate agent? 

I have found some of the best contractors from Facebook groups in the local market for example "Real Estate Investors of Oklahoma City".

If you haven’t already, take a look at the 18.6-year real estate cycle and where we currently stand.

They equate the period leading up to the time its ready to rent as the risky part of the real estate process and pay a premium to bypass that part but this leaves them with unreasonable expectations because the real estate they purchase is inherently risky.