I am also an engineer (mechanical) looking to generate a passive income stream to supplement my day job.

Hey John,I think you bring up some great questions and points.On 1 hand, you want to start investing and creating another stream of income, on the other being an agent won't get you the loan you need. 

Once paid off they will be nice income streams.

While this allowed me to self-fund my education, it didn't provide me with the passive income stream necessary to exit the 'rat race' which is why I'm here today. 

Also AS @Edward B. stated completely bad Karma to kick someone out of their home that rescued it the morning before the sale I don't care if it was 5 minutes they got the dough there.watch the movie 99 homes to see the other side of this heart wrenching things owners went through.for these reasons we rarely anymore buy homes that are occupied.. if its abandoned then its a different story.think about your mother or father being booted out.. or someone you love.. then make your decision.

Equity does not increase cash flow it creates a separate income stream on the property that reduces the cash flow on the property itself.

I'm new to real estate investing and my main purpose for getting involve is having a cash flowing stream of income that will eventually replace my current 9-5.

What would you do in this industry if you lost your stream of regular income, but were sitting on $15,000?

Definitely consult with your CPA about this as you may have specific situations that didn't come up in your post.Generally, there is an advantage to running businesses like property management or wholesaling through an LLC taxed as an S-Corp, as it can save you social security taxes (your CPA can run the numbers for you along with a more comprehensive tax plan).However, it's usually a bad idea to hold rental property in an S-Corp, so you probably wouldn't want these two revenue streams (rental and wholesaling) running through the same entity.Let me know if you have any questions!

Also, if you can provide a cleaning person or  company with an assured stream of business, you can certainly negotiate better rates.