The understanding of Calculus and Analytical Geometry (actually, just basic Geometry and Trig) will make this easier for you.3 - Learn how to design (and stick to) a REI Plan. 

Problem is that when you don’t have these attributes, you’re competing with people that do.But the fact that you recognize that wholesalers inflate the ARV of properties they’re trying to sell shows you’ve got some pretty good analytical skills.

It shows me you have a curious mind and an analytical bent.

As a a manufacturing engineer, and by no means an I a REI expert, I can tell you that with your education and thought process you are already about 10 steps ahead of most people when it comes to the analytics side of this biz. 

I have a Master's Degree in Business Analytics with an Emphasis in Operations Management, and my undergrad is in Business Administration with a minor in Computer Information Systems.

The biggest question I had to answer for myself was, do I want to help people find their first home with the emotional side of things OR do I want to help other investors find their first second third, 100th deal. difference is the emotional RE agent or the analytical RE agent.

I like that it seems that you are super analytical which I can relate to.

So I am going to classify this more as opinion piece than research or analytics .... 

Personally I wouldn't invest a dollar without running some form of detailed analysis, but this is second nature to me at this point.As far as personal investments, I have found my analytics to be fairly accurate, as much as they can be anyway.

Maybe you just have the connections to raise money and analytics to plan and do the reports and investor relations...