I'm not sure if this is a blessing or a distraction to my ultimate goal.

Oh yeah....I was distracted by missing out on the newsletter and forgot that conrgats were in order :) Congrats James!

I also work from home and I'm concerned about potential distracting noise throughout the day.

@Jason Genovese What you are describing is what I refer to as "shinny objects of distraction".  

This could end up being nothing more than a "shiny object of distraction"...where in the long (and short) run you regret later.Joe VilleneuveREcapSystemA2REIC

It's disappointing that the great majority of people who begin to walk down the real estate path get distracted, never really do anything with they knowledge they do gain.

It's a distraction, and while I seriously doubt it would bankrupt you one never can feel totally free until that debt is gone. 

About a year or so ago we decided to try our hand in real estate investing, so we buckled down got away from the T.V. and all other distractions in our life and began to study real estate investing , we had initially decided(after a time of research) to choose wholesaling as our starting point because of our financial situation, and the level of risk involved.

For someone who has a small holding, like an 8 unit apartment building, managing will be a major distraction. 

In some markets, the sleeve would probably be an upsell rather than a distraction (see: Austin TX, Boulder, CO, etc.).