This city is seeing such an explosion of growth in all sectors, including commercial, multi-family, residential rentals, retail, you name it...it's been a bit crazy the past few years and is still just blowing up.

But I will say that my day job is in the commercial real estate sector, and your cash flow calculations do not appear to be extremely appealing (even if they're on the conservative side).  

@George SleweonREITs are a great vehicle for exposure to the real estate sector, but I would not quite call them a fill-in replacement for buy & hold, flipping, or commercial syndications.

I'm curious if the downturn in the oil and gas sector has started to affect the real estate market in the Houston area.

Rather than syndicating the equity as you're starting up, you might find a path forward in a JV structure with one of the emerging REPE groups that are already raising discretionary funds in this sector - Happy Camper Capital comes to mind - IF you find the right deals and combine them with a strong business plan + reasonable co-invest (typically 10% of the equity required - JV partner puts up the other 90%). 

But out of their ashes, we've risen, possessing a diversified economy of a constellation of companies largely made up of recession resistant sectors like education and healthcare.Some key stats:Employment rate across all sectors is up 1.54% which is well above the 10 year average of just 0.15% according to Oxford Economics.Also median household income is up 3.3% over the last 12 months which will continue to undergird rent price stability.

Many of us work remotely with clients worldwide.

I think you're spot on to make your search focus on sector specific experience (a cpa who specializes in real estate investors). 

On a less physical level, such as say economics, these classes on their own don’t force the critical thinking or provide the give-and-take found in a classroom.Don’t get me wrong, they supply a tremendous amount of basic knowledge missing worldwide in an easy to access form.

As one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States, Raleigh, NC, continues to attract attention for its dynamic economy, burgeoning tech sector, and vibrant cultural scene.