Specifically general mechanic that is jack of all trades, an electrician, plumber,and a roofer!

I may trade up later to apartments.

Machine trading can also magnify it.

They charge a $65 trade call fee. 

This is where this community comes in (I hope).My plan: Invest in small multi family homes around Cleveland, buy and hold to build a small portfolio and possibly trade up to small 5+ units.

The trade off you get for working with a wholesaler is you don't have to do your marketing and meet with a homeowner to source a deal.

Why would you ignore that while putting all your eggs in one basket.I would put $100K down on a 2-4 plex, $100K into 3% CDs and gold stocks to weather this trade war storm (2018), and put the last $100K into my own business as a LLC that could be used in Year 3 to play in commercial real estate (5 units or more).In the mean time shoot for a 80+ business score and 720+ personal credit score while seeing if we're heading into a recession.

That's too bad that you moved before using the $500K exemptionbut with the trade war that started in 2018,you might want to sell and stay in cash...

It also might be wise to wait a few months while paying down debt to see if this global trade war hammering the stock market will spell the end of appreciating real estate in the USA in 2018.It does not matter how much you are sending in on your student loan. 

In WA we have CBA (Commercial Brokers Association) which produces leases, PSAs etc. and most people use/accept their docs.Check with with the department of licensing for CA or local trade groups.