You cannot beat the power of an ADU for peace of mind, leveraging your home to pay less monthly and reduce your expenses and give you the experience and confidence of doing constriction, getting permits and working with the city and managing a very easy rental.

I’m always eager to expand my knowledge and network with like-minded individuals.

Because I want to continue investing, avoiding paying the personal gains is what my mind is occupied with. 

Check out Meetup.com or local Facebook groups to find like-minded individuals, you never know who you'll meet, or who they'll connect you to!

Something to keep in mind. 

Hi Alex,You're off to a great start, and it’s awesome that you already have clear goals in mind!

Quote from @Jaycee Greene: Per your message, do you mind if I send you a connection request/direct message? 

However, I have no idea how to choose from the remaining cities, it seems there are a lot of potential options:- Midwest - Michigan (ie: Grand Rapids) seems to have options, also seeing Columbus Ohio and Indianapolis coming up- Reno - I've seen mentioned several times on here- Pittsburgh / Philadelphia / Twin Cities - All mentioned as lower cost to get started, and seem to be experiencing growthI'd ideally like to find a place that has strong potential for future growth, a diversified economy, and I don't mind living in (being close to nature would be a plus). 

I'm not saying that you need stick around with someone no matter how bad they are, just that you need to be mindful on your projects going forward. 

With historical inflation in mind, that mortgage is essentially an asset.