My advice, if your heart is set on working in RE, would be to look for a broker who needs a licensed assistant.

I'll try to answer your questions as best I can but keep in mind I'm new too.1) In my opinion, Mentor (someone who is where you are trying to get in the next 12 months) and meet 3 or 4 mentors if you can.Lawyer who will answer as many questions as you can come up with and has the heart of a teacher...also has to focus on real estate lawTax Advisor who, again, will answer as many questions as you can come up with and has the heart of a teacher...has to focus on preparing investment properties' tax returns2)  I've been talking to a lot of people (friends, acquaintances, strangers) lately and I'm just making sure they are currently investing in real estate and they are 1 or 2 steps ahead of me on the journey (own 5-20 units and self-manage).  

Follow your heart and your interests, first and foremost.  

My heart still resides in Portland and the surrounding area and I hope to eventually move back there.  

As this is starting to get long winded I'll end my story here, but first I would like to pass along a heart felt thank you to everyone that help me when I first arrived.

Then we get a call on Monday from floor guy's wife - "Jerry is in the hospital with heart issues."

I would love to tell you to be warm hearted and give them a desperately needed break but,your rental doesn't sound optimal for her poor health to deal with safely.They need a one level ground floor unit to keep her safe and you away from a potential lawsuit.The first time she tumbles down the stairs and gets hauled away in an ambulance you are going to hear from their attorney crying "Well you should never have rented to them you greedy slumlord!!"

This has been their home since 2002 so I didn't have the heart to kick them out so I put my Tesla dream on hold.April came, my partner and I completed a cash-out refinance on one of our buildings.

I was hoping to illustrate how unpleasant being on the receiving end of such a heavy-hearted counter point can be, but it was not meant as an attack against you personally.As for your claim that I was 'insulting the OP' and in essence insulting @Bob Bowling, I believe you misunderstood, or perhaps I did not do a good job explaining, what it is that I was saying.I was stating that OP had actually used the term 'cash-flow neutral' correctly, and appeared to understand what it meant in the context of REI.  

You did it with a family member, or on your own, etc. that have your best interests at heart - right?