When exactly did you do <fill in random milestone here> in your career?

I would contact the appraiser and aside from voicing your argument I would send him three better, more suitable comps that illustrate three properties in areas as nice as yours that have a garage, etc and layout similar to what you have.

If by tons of storage you mean shed type storage, not basement/interior storage but suitable for lawn equipment, outdoor recreation stuff you could be okay for storage.

I am just beginning my real estate investing career.

At this point in my career as soon as someone tries to impress me with their wealth I almost immediately write them off.

At that point in my career there was nothing revolutionary in the book but there were a lot of great tidbits.

My question is, what would be the best & smartest way to begin our investing career using these funds?

Finding the right lender can accelerate your investing career dramatically.

If you are business minded, great at marketing and have some sales chops it can be a very lucrative career which you can then parlay very well into Real Estate Investing.

Since you are at a top business school, I would take advantage of their career center, events, and alumni network (reach out to alumni from your school that work at target firms) to break into the space.