Most do have a learning curve, so the fact that you are doing your research is important as you will end up committing time and resources to the platform you choose.

You commit to this and you are not in a position to take any other opportunities that might come your way for fear of jeprodising your finnacing in 3 years time.

Likewise, I fire clients that lie to my face or that plain ole waste my time i.e. always wanting to look but never willing to commit on an offer.

Upwork would certainly be easier, but I'm committed to making my community better.

After about 15 years of talking myself out of it, my brother and I finally committed to investing in our own multifamily property. 

Tenants must commit (in writing) to a plan with dates and payment amounts.

It is a lot like dating in some regards - if either of you tries to rush the commitment, it can get awkward. ;-)

Given your primary commitment is to the Navy, you should carefully consider this investment and be 100% sure you buy it right. 

Despite being very handy, I work a FT job, I have a family and other commitments, thus my time is extremely limited and I've found that for me, it's more lucrative (mostly in the long run) to do flip-to-rents (using the BRRRR method) on the side (and keeping my full time W2 job). 

But keep in mind that your ballpark isn't accurate either - and even when you have a full bid from committed contractors, you're going to be a little bit off on your final expenses.