Mostly due to the fact my spouse and I agreed on her to have zero involvment in any sort of RE investing (and its our home) I think once you have a good 6-12 months of reserve cash (operating expenses for your own life saved as a back up incase things go bad) save enough liquidity to get the ball rolling on your first invesment.

Perhaps a better vetting of the buyers on the BP side will enable better quality leads?

A laundromat with 3 or more machines down is a bad reputation to have. 

You know this and the reason I am saying that I am considering in getting a real state license is the connections, the access to listing off market and possibility of earning commission that I can use to increase my portfolio.I think that being an investor agent will help me build a reputation and that can be good or bad.

The combination of families looking for more space, good schools, and a quieter lifestyle has been a big driver of demand.For my investments, I’ve noticed:High tenant quality: Families or professionals relocating to suburbs like Naperville and Wheaton tend to stay longer, which helps with stability.Increased competition: It’s definitely tougher to find good deals, especially in top-tier school districts.

Quality VariesNot all coaching programs are created equal.

Like most countries, Spain will tax you on your worldwide income if you're a resident, as does the US in most countries (so maybe it's not a bad thing that Canada isn't the 51st state - LOL again).

Best part is NJ is not what its made out to be in terms of landlord friendly, the state gets portrayed as the entire state being bad when really most wacky laws are in the major cities and they apply to 5 units or more.  2-4 unit multi families fly below radar per say. 

Search for and buy a bad roof.

In Milwaukee the weather can get pretty cold and we want to protect the tenant, but also the pipes in the property from freezing.For that reason we do have a stockpile of emergency equipment which includes electric space heaters.