When I told him of this mis-pairing he understood as his sales agent also made certain references that I thought unnecessary.

Pairing your investing with a real estate sales business is the way to go.

So she pairs new(er) flippers with private investors and charges points on the loan.

Pair that with the other stuff folks talk about on BP to chop off 5 years here, and a decade there, as you please, to reach whatever early retirement goals you might have.

Super bad advice, paired with huge generalizations about an industry that, clearly, you don't know much about. 

The top producers in my market are definitely paired up with the top builders and realtors. 

Since you've learnt a lot of about REI and deal analysis since then, analyze with a fresh pair of eyes.

The plan is to deploy several hundred thousand in capitol (from a post tax brokerage account) split up across 5 investments or so to start for the sake of both Diversity and possible Passive pairing to help with taxes (Ex one may give more losses and other more passive income and thus offset). 

While inflation and volatile mortgage rates still make purchasing a challenge, the increase in inventory paired with the slowdown in price increases give buyers a leg up as they seek to secure homes before winter.

You see these buildings on the interstates all the time, typically being transported in two pieces by a pair of semis.