(Unless there is a long term goal, I'm not sacrificing my time for it).

If being within driving distance isn't worth sacrificing the better returns, then where would you be looking now for first investment with 100-150k cash seed money?

For most, however, buying into the material wedding industry hype, sacrificing future financial independence to throw an absurdly expensive party, is what most will likely regret, especially those already divorced or still paying off the loans they took out to pay for it. 

My parents have sacrificed a lot for me, and I want to be able to pay them back with a brand new home.

When I mentioned how another third broker I met with (whom I am not considering) told me I am welcomed to get another agent in the office to co-list with me on a deal early on (for an agreed upon commission split of course), Broker #1 said they would not want me to do that, as it's their job to guide me and there was no point in sacrificing any of my commission. 

You make valid points in line with sacrificing a little flexibility in order to retain capability, which I want to touch on -But first!

It may be prudent to adjust your financial position to have some paid off properties that could be "sacrificed" to support other ones if you had cash flow issues. ie, rather than have mortgages on every property, have mortgages on some and some paid off, even if you have less equity in the mortgaged properties.

I can't think of another market where you can exceed the 1% rule and see the current appreciation.Of course, appreciation is fickle but since you aren't sacrificing cash flow - it is great to have.

The more I looked at the numbers, I came to believe it was sacrificing net worth by waiting to be totally debt free.

I know I’m sacrificing profitability for comfortability, but I’m okay with that.