With your skills and background I would guess you would be best utilized with a larger organization that has the deal volume to afford to pay you full time.

Pros to my current position: Secure, w2, pay is above average, benefits are stellar, schedule is somewhat flexible (can leave if I need to without penalty; vacation when I want - utilizing banked time on both), 3 miles from home, and hopefully a pension in 17 years. 

I have purchased and utilized the deal Automator and can give you at least my side of what I experienced.

I work in Albuquerque, NM and wear many hats utilizing many tools.20 rental units12 active flips - recs to purchase -some are now rec notes-private money on the flips utilizing retirement plans/corporate/nonprofit funds-wholesaling and I have started a new platform of providing financed wholesales.would love to see if my knowledge is of value to others.

Utilizing our collaborative financing model allowed for efficient funding, covering both the purchase price and any necessary costs associated with the resale.

Definitely check with your CPA, but I am pretty sure you cannot write off the "lost" income but you still get to write off the mortgage interest as well as utilities etc while there.

A little background to start out because I'm feeling a little scatterbrained with the directions to take next: I'm 23 and currently own 2 duplexes with gross income just shy of $4k per month, net after mortgages, taxes, utilities, repairs, etc. is about $2,125 give or take depending on the month.

With utilities in place city roads   jv deals

And the maintenance on all 4, including utilities is much less. ehh, i would have to see the numbers.

No formula can be accurate across the board because even “cookie cutter” properties next store to each other differ as to view, location to the street, topography of the land, lot size, physical condition of the property, past remodeling, quality of the mechanical systems, sunlight, utility bills, past use, etc.