Hello @Christine Vasquez,Many investors choose real estate markets based on gut feelings or popular trends. 

Either that, or 0% credit cards combined with the personal loan if you feel that you can liquidate the property before the credit card intro periods expire. 

I am trying to find a mentor and I feel like working for a corporate wholesaler might give me the experience I need to turn my little $175,000 chunk into a rental property business one day.

If you’re feeling uneasy about the potential headaches, you might consider a local property manager who specializes in room rentals or shared housing.

I feel confident it is low risk and mitigated with the added deposit. 

It's also ideal if you know what strategies support your particular deal (fix and flip, BRRRR, rental/turnkey or STR).Feel free to connect if you need any tools to support you in these mentioned regards.

If you need more specific guidance or connections to experts in this space, feel free to DM me, and I'll point you in the right direction!

I actually feel like I learned a lot in college that would have taken me 15 years to have the opportunity to learn “on the job” IF I was even able to obtain the position to enable me to learn.  

I know that my current cash flow is a result of the unit being my primary residence first, and that not all units will cash flow like this, but can't help the feeling that I should be expanding my rental portfolio over the years.

Hours of servicing the loans in all their aspects quickly eats up the points we received at the beginning of each mortgage & it feels like we're doing all the work for no compensation.