This increase in inventory gives buyers more choices, but it also means that competition among sellers is heating up.

Ultimately, someone will only mentor you if you are able to add value to their business.

What is best choice for OP?  

@Grady Gilman wise choice to house hack!

It is not a binary choice for the Realtor - if you do a good job and take care of their clients its a win/win for them. 

That, plus numbers just not making sense unless you put an insane amount of money as a down payment / buy in all cash, and other anti-landlord legislation made me look to a state like Ohio starting in 2021 and ultimately moving to Columbus to focus on building a portfolio and I've been very happy with my ROI both in cashflow and appreciation over the past few years. 

YES, you have to build a real estate portfolio of professionals of your choice to make this all happen.

I used their ultimate plan, which has rent and eviction protection.

But ultimately you can give a tenant notice if there is excessive screaming and yelling that if they are not able to maintain a quite environment you are going to have to ask them to leave due to violating their lease terms (presuming you have something in your lease like that).  

I recently devoured the book "How to Invest in Real Estate: The Ultimate Beginner's Guide" recently...which led me to discovering this community...which is leading me to thinking about my next chapter in life.