I don't have a crystal ball to give you a timeframe on any of this but take it from somebody that's lived a lot more life than you.

I agree with @Chris Sellers that your next step is to begin narrowing down your market choices.My best advice:Be ruthless with the numbers - Be crystal clear on your financial objectives and how you'll measure success.

Amazon is reportedly in advanced talks to open their second HQ in Crystal City,VA in the DC area.Not surprising I guess , especially with Bezos owning Washington Post and would be beneficially for them do be near D.C as far as lobbying etc . 

I think it all starts with becoming crystal clear on your goals and then you can build a strategy to get there. 

I certainly don't think that the bear market will go on forever, but many signs point towards more price appreciation in the next couple years....after that, your crystal ball is as good as mine:) We've pretty much seen 10% price growth every year for the last 8 years, and average (not median) home price at the end of Dec 2017 was 470k.

When I look at a deal, the numbers are so crystal clear and it is very obvious there is profit.

I have a zero tolerance for lease violators and make that crystal clear to all applicants up front.

But keep a record of this, because my crystal ball says this may happen again... 

Congrats (i think) to both NY and Crystal City, VA.

There are alot of private lender hedgefunds bear sterns etc that have invested over the last 13 years or so in sub prime and thet dont plan on loseing as far as the banks bailing people out i just dont beleve it thats a smoke screen to make the look sincere what they do is take there down payment and home and get the next guy in and take theres to if they dont man up and pay for it its not something for nothing in this but anymore you almost have to have a degree in economics to understand it confusion is there trick of the trade every business has them theres no crystal ball that says you will have your business/job/same income for the next 30years there finacials change and credit only the strong servive there is psychology within life/money please dont get me wrong a mortgage can work for you if you understand the loan witch is 2 inches thick and only a 3 day recision period but statistics say that you will refi every 5- 10 years need a new car college tuition new born etc and many many other things happen funeral and you need to consolidate and back to 30 years again they have all or most of the angles figured out or at least the important ones what you like is your fault .