Where ever you end up, just keep a few fundamentals in mind and you'll do fine! 

One day, soon, when I feel I have a better grasp of the fundamentals of REI, I would be glad to partner on a deal. :)

I think a fundamental understanding of investing in general is more helpful than most of the actual real estate investing books.  

However, if you have the propensity to give up too quickly either because things aren't working fast for you or because you get bored easily, then it is advisable that you "Know Thyself " and build those fundamentals well before going into investing.  

Engineering and real estate investing have some fundamentals in common. 

This is the fundamental problem I have with Wall Street who takes too much fees off the hard-working efforts of the middle class.

To say cash value never makes sense means you fundamentally don’t understand the product.

I like the way he teaches the fundamentals of how to think about risk and how to factor in different variables when considering the merits of an investment opportunity. 

I'm asking to make sure my assumption is right as this is pretty fundamental to my plans! 

That's usually because they offer good cash flow and they have good economic and demographic fundamentals like job growth, population growth, diverse economies etc.