Stop hanging out with your deadbeat buddies who spend all day drinking, talking sports, and otherwise wasting away.

I am pretty handy and have done plenty of restoration work myself and not afraid to put in some elbow grease. looking into real estate to get the wealth ball rolling but feel a little uneasy given the current state of the economy. what would you do in my shoes?! 

During the Demos we were told that they had plenty of clients that used auxiallry software like PropertyMeld maintenance and FinDigs application screening with RentVine and loved it.  

-Focusing on markets with solid job growth and population trends.Columbus has been great for me, but there are plenty of solid markets depending on your goals (cash flow vs appreciation, short vs long-term, etc.).

I largely lived paycheck to paycheck, drinking away the weekends to avoid the overwhelming sensation that my life was slipping away from me.

But if you have 12 US properties, that's plenty to show in a resume/portfolio for any serious HML. 

If closing is 30 days away, that should be plenty of time. 

Bigger Pockets is the right place to come for resources as there are plenty on the site here.

Those 2 will generate plenty of bookings if you have a great place and priced right.

Now focus on what you, not what the real estate investment community, want to do after you educate yourself on both sides.If you are interested in selling, I know plenty of individuals looking for a similar home in the Scottsdale area as an investment property and I think you could get a great return right now.