Someone told me my comment on another thread, should be posted independently, so here you go.

I'm an "independent" broker and, as mine is a one-woman office, no one here to mentor me.  

For most people, it is extra income, or to accelerate your path to financial independence.

A lot of that occurred after the recession or in very rough markets, or extremely rural markets.Now if you are talking a normal market, and an investor who is not already independently wealthy from some other business and has a ton of cash to spend, I imagine the podcast episode would sound like this:Host - Tell me how you got started.Guest - I saved up cash until I had enough for my first investment.

It's very different from talking to independent RE professionals. 

I have watched a ton of house flipping shows on television, thought to myself of what it would be like to become successful at it then become financially independent.

Alexa, I do not write business in Ohio, but as an Insurance Agent and Real Estate Investor, I suggest finding a trustworthy Independent Insurance Agency. 

Unfortunately, your cash-on-cash and cashflow are closely linked, so it's hard to raise or lower one independently of the other.

The goal is to use real estate as a vehicle to achieve financial independence! 

My end goal is financial independence and my plan is to use my savings from my W2 job to invest in more passively managed real estate that will cash flow positive and build equity over time.