Hello Savannah, the journey goes slow and steady yet I am optimistic and enthused to have started my journey with these initial steps!

I initially viewed it as just a means to buy a home, but I later realized that leveraging allows you to acquire more properties without needing significant cash upfront.

He is actually VERY qualified and gave you great advice that you initially were going to ignore:(3) Understand that no matter what property you buy, you are buying someone else's problems.

Initially, the property was managed by a company that charged high fees, affecting my cash flow.

I found it through word of mouth at work and ended up buying it from a coworker who initially wanted to rent it for me.

Flexibility – Investors at the beginning may often like the flexibility of mixing and matching coverage as their needs change or their risk profiles evolve.While this approach works for many Investors initially, as they scale and risks become more complex, managing multiple policies and relationships can be burdensome.

Just a few items that stood out reading your initial post. 

He had no losses and lead me to believe I would get my deposit back initially.

We have a PMI of $250 a month and I’d love to get rid of it.I contacted the bank for a request for PMI to be lifted and they denied it.They said I could order an assessment of the house through them and then if house / condo come up with enough gained equity then it might be possible .Does anyone know the best first initial steps to order a home assessment ?

Don't think you need to buy the first property that comes your way (I did that initially...actually just sold it at a break-even after all expenses).