Attending a local real estate social is a great way to build connections and finding a mentor. 

Like your method of "giving back" by teaching, mentoring and public speaking, I am keeping busy helping others build a portfolio in the Toledo market OR helping them recover from some bad prior decisions (I seem to be the Sierra Realty Mr Fix-It for the second half of 2018).Keep the ideas coming, great stuff!

Someone offered to mentor me with a five-year non-compete proposition.

I’m a little nervous and need a mentor I can learn from.

So I drove there and talked to one of the mentors and saw a lot of value in the community.

In addition, perhaps you can work with a mentor or financial adviser with Real Estate experience to determine the path to follow.Finally, it it is still too much for you or you just need a change in scenery, start working on selling some of those underperforming assets...

Unlike what many think, it's not necessary to graduate to commercial property - get a mentor and/or invest passively in multifamily to learn the ropes. 

Take advantage of area meetups, you never know when you may find a mentor or other expert in their field willing to help you.Hope to see you around!

Either way, as part of the deal, I would ask the owner to 'mentor' me for at least 6-12 months. 

Its the reason why I am a handyman, I also was a teaching assistant in grad school, and was an adjunct at a local junior college for 3 years.