You have to weigh the fact that if you start smaller you are going to be learning with little money down, and little rewards. 

Second time is the charm and the pole slides all four feet to the bottom and we can pack it in. 

But big reward!

Also our house is the subject of a reality show called Southern Charm.. so when I get a video link I will post it..

I live in Patterson Park and work with a company, Charm City Builders, that specializes in rehabs around this area.

I'd try to connect with some wholesalers our in more rural Maryland (Frederick-Hagerstown corridor), or even Jefferson/Berkeley/Morgan Counties in WV: only about an hour or so from Charm City, depending on where you are.

Me personally, I would lean toward assuming the additional risk for the potential reward associated with REI when weighed against using excess cash to pay off student loans at what I presume are relatively low rates, especially when adjusted for tax deductions (if you receive the deduction for student loan interest anyway). 

It can be very rewarding if you can master it.

You will still get those who know what to say to get a showing, all the while hoping the mentioned credit check in the ad was a bluff, or that they hope to charm you into not doing a credit check, etc..

Margins like anywhere else get thinner and thinner to the point where the risk and reward barely are balanced.His title search is also something that isn't worth much.