I agree with OP 200%.

: I understand that there is commercial and residential, but there has got to be subgroups While I don't think you need to niche down immediately, some specializations in residential RE are:- Co-op- Condo (incl. luxury)- SFR (median pricepoint)- SFR Luxury- MFR- RentalsThere are a ton of commercial RE specializations including retail (various types), restaurant, other food/bev., warehouse, storage, and dozens more.What should I expect when first coming into the profession ?

Not specific to OP but I constantly observe the pressure investors face to buy real estate.

Looks to me like it's $6,800 based on the math in the parenthesis.If that's the case, looks like OP bought a little too much house the first time around. 

This is a pretty old post - not sure why a newbie felt the need to resurrect the dead here - and I'm not sure the OP is still hanging around, but if he is:The first rule when you are in a hole is to stop digging.

You might check with smaller outfits too like Co/Lab lending, Preferred Mortgage, Aceland Mortgage, and co-ops/credit unions.

I see a lot of good suggestions, but I see the OP not following them or trying to do more than suggested.  

At some point, OP found outside investors/partners/HML and expanded his portfolio with said partners.  

The other thing that the OP is not taking into consideration is these are not AIRBNBs these are peoples homes with valuable in them.. you woud get all sorts of crooks casing these homes only to come back and steal these people blind. 

, etc.I can't make it any plainer than that.Even the OP said as much way back on Page 1.