It was out of Necessity.

College kids are very simple and just need the bare necessities to be happy.

And yes, making training videos is definitely a necessity.

While it's been a lot of work and it was the 401k funds that in part made this project possible, if I had known 20 years ago what I know now, we would have likely been financially free years ago and the W-2 would be a choice rather than a necessity. 

@Kevin Eisentrout, I'm not sure about the time frames being a necessity. 

Everything has risk and when you are not offering a necessity in life that risk gets exposed quickly.

Investors starting out look for both of those things out of necessity.

(imho)...Once you have enough rentals paying for your basic necessities, your subsequent purchases can then help pay for some "fun" things you've always wanted in life...vacations, a nice watch, your dream car, extra donations to your church/charity, pay off mortgages (if you choose), or maybe you just continue to re-invest. 

Then I would diversify between SF and small MF-- housing is NOT a luxury, its a necessity and a housing shortage is here and people need safe housing. 

I know hiring a CPA or advisor is a good idea at any point, but at what point in an investor's progression does it become a necessity?