I am a firm believer in smaller projects with a bigger spread. 

@Daniel Vo, sent you a message but I am proof that you can start in your late 30's and figure this all out while still serving and setting yourself up to grow even more when you retire from the military.

I hope this improves.S8 can be a challenge.

There's a lot more to the story.

I would appreciate if you could give me some insight what would you do if you were in my shoes?

When faced with scenarios like this, it's tough to answer such a specific question with limited information. 

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I just invested in batch leads (wasn't happy with prop stream) and am using a virtual assistant to help cold call some absentee leads from there.  

.: @Kieron Osullivan Thanks for sharing this, really insightful.

I would visit local meetups for real estate investing, and also network with agents in your area that work with a lot of investors.