This is but a small list, to be honest, and in fact I recommend reading J Scott's Diary of a New Construction ebook to get a more holistic sense of new builds (assuming you haven't already).

Often 4 digits negative. 

This is why there are so many people that teach it and make thousands (or more) selling their e-books, courses & seminars.

I want to compile a file of information, either digital or physical, that could potentially be used as a piece of documentation showing past successful investments to a bank or lender in the future.

FB with their years and years and years of data at their disposal could program a digital version of you that would be more accurately you, then you yourself!

Hey @Nick Naik I do web development so SEO/Digital marketing is not my exact niche but I think you're going to have a pretty big hill to climb.

I am developing my skills with 3D photography/tours as well as graphic design and digital marketing.Any ideas on whether I should live for free in Lake Tahoe and work as a real estate agent in a competitive/low volume market or move back down to my college town of Santa Barbara and pay rent while building a real estate career there?

For me, my cost of doing business before lead generation is just under $300 a month - that's broker, MLS, local/state/national REALTOR associations, and digital lock boxes. 

There are a lot of great options out there; aside from providing the basics (ie. listing tool to get the property published to 10+ major sites, scheduling tool to schedule viewings, tenant screening with comprehensive applications which include nationwide criminal background checks + credit checks + eviction history, digital lease creation tool, rent collection tool, and maintenance tracking tool), some services also offer your tenants additional capabilities which makes it an easier sell on your end when getting them to transition over (ie. their ability to report on-time rent payments to the credit bureaus; this can create an added incentive for making sure they pay that rent on time).

The double digit years are over...