Nice job acquiring the first deal.

You will require many properties to completely replace your income, which could become a new full-time job to manage.

Look into factors like vacancy rates, local job growth, and tenant demand to pinpoint promising markets.Once you find a property, work on running the numbers carefully—factor in purchase price, rehab costs (if applicable), property management fees, and reserves.

Normally, this fee is added when it is a flat fee service, or the owner is difficult to work with on pricing.Working with contractors is a difficult task filled with frustrations and missing timelines.

I was interested in both classes but as i have a full time job and young kids i wanted to see if there was any flexibility in when i could take the 2nd class, which was NOT offered in the Atlanta area.

That is why most of them just let us do our jobs. 

Considering some SFR properties in Cahokia / Cahokia Heights, Illinois and looking for some recommendations on inpsectors in this area that do a good job looking at multiple properties

If your student loans are only 3-5% interest, that's pretty good so I think it's okay to pay those off over time.It sounds like you're making good income with your current employer and there is room to grow, so I'd plan to stay with that job until you can pay your high interest loans off and save enough for a down payment for your first property.

Also, focus on 2 years of job/income stability.Class D Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, all cashflow with little, maybe even negative, relative rent & value appreciationVacancy Est: 20%+ should be used to cover nonpayment, evictions & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores under 560 (almost 30% probability of default), little to no good tradelines, lots of collections & chargeoffs, recent evictions.

That would be what I would profit on a build job, then the interest and closing costs and such would be paid by the person hiring me.