However, that aspect may change once you tell us what debts you have.

Any suggestions for what aspects of the business I should be focused on learning first (property analysis, networking, financing)?

I do believe with commercial loans the income producing aspect of the property is what is considered, not your personal income.

Limitless Real Estate Group LLC - Property ManagementWe handle every aspect of realty management - General maintenance and upkeep- Demo and rehab construction- Lease processing and renewals - Tenant selection- Screenings, background checks, deposit collections and lease agreements- Property repairs- Rent collection

That's also one of the aspects I like about note investing is multiple exist strategy and can be a future discussion with JV partner if a rehab would be best option or simply sell as is.   

Take all aspects into general consideration before deciding on a narrow scope, just so you know the potential of what's out there. 

There are two aspects to analyzing and buy and hold deal in my humble opinion, and especially a deal involving Multi Family Units. a) The Property Condition and Rehab required:  This is something you should be able to, and probably should do independently. 

Love the aspect of leveraging with debt and being able to refinance the initial capital or part of it back out upon completion and stabilization of the building.

There's also opportunity to move around different groups to learn different aspects of the business. 

As for how hard it is.. that goes without saying there is nothing tougher in the real estate game than this.. simply because you need to be proficient in all aspects  of the transaction.. so I guess you just have to decide which slice of the apple you want and how much capital you have to throw at it .. how much time you have and your sales and closings skills.. which again listening to the guys in the room these were no wallflowers..