With that, I want to ensure that my approach to real estate is starting with the niche that generates faster returns from the beginning) as a rough example:I can buy Focal Utopia headphones for 8K or I can buy headphones from kmart for $25.

Contact the real estate division for confirmation: https://idfpr.illinois.gov/dre.html 

You can have an IRA-owned LLC (aka Checkbook IRA) to buy real estate with it or make any other alternative investments.

Noone bring me any REALLY good deals for the next 1-15 days, or I am subject to counter claims...Real estate industry.... get your act together.

I only recently became licensed, so I would have a long way to go in order to comply with the 2-year experience requirement, but I have been an active investor for 5 years so I am wondering if I would fall within the 3 year exemption, below:- Have at least two years of experience as a licensed real estate salesperson or at least three years of experience in the general real estate field or a combination of both- Meet the minimum points required for the experience type (e.g., buying and selling your own property, managing property owned by your employer)Thanks in advance! 

I am a Real Estate Broker myself who has helped over 400 other investors.

We pride ourselves in keeping the forums positive, helpful, and focused on real estate (please, no politics, religion, etc.).

In Real Estate, TIME IS MONEY.Getting a rehab loan done quickly is worth paying an extra few points in order to be efficient as you will be able to expand your BRR business which would yield results greater than the increased cost of capital that hard money brings.In order to escape a scarcity mindset you need to understand that money is in theory unlimited, they print it.But can you print time?

Find a good real estate agent that is also an investor specialist and they can help you navigate what will get you your best ROI for your situation.  

BiggerPockets has a decent system for finding a real estate broker in any given area.