Quite exciting to see many RE investor in this post.

My wife is a licensed RE salesperson in MD and VA, I'm an avid "hobbyist".

As a retired CPA, I have seen more than my share of bankrupted RE investors who were over leveraged with many properties.All the more reason to emphasize developing good due diligence practices, having some skin in the game and staying on top of legal requirements, maintenance, finance and tenant screening criteria.

always love seeing others getting into the RE game early in life. i used to be a die-hard index fund investor & have since moved all my $$ into RE. you just seriously can not compare the two. wealth can be built SO MUCH FASTER in RE vs in the stock market. would love to connect and see how i can help you!

Another big hurdle is not understanding how to reduce your SE taxes and how to use RE to wipe out the income tax.

I am going to hold onto this W2 salary for as long as possible, aiming to re-invest 40-50% of my earnings.

Not into prop mgt but full time RE investing/agent work.TN does not have "crazy rules and regulations" not sure where that came up. 

To start, I would try to pinpoint what area of RE investing you'd like to focus on.

They will work with the buyer to re-set the loan and terms because when they foreclose and bid the property in for their loan amount which they mostly do around here, they have to recognize the loss as a non performing loan which has a multiplier effect on their lending base.

Not just any CPA who took a 2 hours course on RE investing.