If you haven't read How to win friends and influence people I would absolutely recommend reading through it.

Where do I mail your copy of How to Win Friends and Influence People?

General consensus seems to be that especially when starting out you should invest where you know/local to where you live, so my question is: How much should I let my interest in REI influence where I am looking for jobs?

What trips people up is the, probably pretty true, narrative of using wealth to influence politics to create an unfair playing field.  

I also have a daughter going to college in 2 years and I'm worried about how investment property will influence how much financial aid she will receive.

What are some factors that would influence the closings costs? 

You have the ability to directly influence the appreciation on a property through forced appreciation.

By using a third party representing me I am able to maintain a more unbiased posture, allow the emotion to blow off without influencing my decision making process, and hopefully reach an agreed plan which provides them with time to rearrange their lives and me to suffer the least cost.Btw, not unusual for a relative not to inform their relative tenants that foreclosure is taking place.  

And then landlord practices, while usually legal, don't exactly win friends and influence people.I don't happen to understand it.  

@Shafi NossLots of benefits when having your license MLS accessNetworkReduce purchase price for commissionUnderstand real estate related documentsLearn from fellow agents in same brokerageMakes sales within you sphere of influence