I recieved my real estate license at 19 years old, and you will face difficulty in closing deals due to your age as I did.

In Reno and metro areas, insurance companies primarily focus on roofs, the age of the building, wiring updates, and water pipes, as mentioned @Cameron Moore.

My son (age 24) however, is an independant contractor / self employed and is trying to buy a house. 

Eg find contractors in ages out of state.

I would like to know more about ways to use OPM  The only way to determine if the home is going to cost you a lot down the road is by determining the age of the mechanical systems & if the structure of the home is sound. 

I'm an independent agent here in AR and I write a lot of rental property, with ~6 preferred markets and if the properties have some issues, age, claim history etc.

I fund land flippers in all these states and at your age I would be hunting down a parcel now U want to eventually move to...

Given their age and position in life… mailbox money flow forever sounds like a good start to retirement to me!

@Raul VelazquezI would suffix what others wrote by saying that you need to understand that real estate really is a longer term wealth strategy - even though that is what you say you don't want due to your age / starting point.  

I wish I got started when I was your age.