I am at a place in life finally where I can devote the time needed to learn.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”Good luck!

If you have a strong desire to succeed and you can realistically devote at least 15 hours a week or more to real estate as a business, then consider going active.

@Johnny LauA lot depends on your personal situation:1) How much time can you and want to devote to the real estate investing as a business.

So selling this property would undoubtedly lead to a pile of money sitting and earning nothing in the next several years, and not being redeployed until I'm ready and have the time and energy to devote to starting a real business out of this.  

Time is so valuable and if they don't know you professionally or have confidence that you will actually close on a deal, why would they devote their time to you?

In the long run I plan to be fully devoted to investing and flipping properties, as well as buying and holding.

Challenges for this project included my former plumber taking forever, the appraiser hosing me on the final appraisal, and my inability to devote enough personal time to perform the small labor that I like to do on the rehab.

Whatever you chose to do make sure that you are devoted and have a plan so as to maximize your valuable time. 

I think the best investment property to start out ultimately depends on how much time you are willing to devote to the investment.