I would love to talk with a lender to get a better handle on the products that help investors BUT in my strategy, I am leaning toward NOT using hard money at first(if I can avoid it).

Being able to look one of these sellers in the eye and tell them that you can, as a licensed agent, either list their property or attempt to assign the contract, assuming wholesaling is legal in your state, is a huge credibility booster.2) Get an entry-level job, hustle, save as much as possible and plan to house-hack when you turn 18-21.

Now we have a full leadership team handling various roles. 

There are online platforms like Rentable.com that will handle opening the correct accounts / all compliance tasks related to managing deposits 

Houston's diverse, and the real estate market is buzzing.Check your budget, how much risk you can handle, and what you want from the investment.Montrose, The Heights, Eado, and Museum District are buzzin' with mid-term rental potential.Research the neighborhoods, check the rates, and do the math on costs before diving in.

Entry-level salary but certainly nothing to frown upon.

The lower barrier to entry would be excellent for my personally smaller net worth.

So we need 3 maintenance incidents per week, personally handled by your wife.

I has two GREAT property managers that immediately come to mind, one handling 5 high end high rise condos I owned in Phoenix and the other one handling a 12 unit very lower end apartment building I owned in Arlington, Texas.  

The price you pay for being part of the Disney World spoon-feed of guests is that the barrier to entry for profitable STRs (ones that leverage close to or max LTV) is very, very high.