My parameters were that I did not want to add more than 2-3 employees, I did not want to give up control over the u;to are yes - no investment decision, and I didn’t want my position to become a full time job.  

Get a stable income, job and start with going the simple route.

Quote from @Paul Gupta: Hi, in California, For jobs requiring a license, there was CSLB (contractor state licensing board) which would give either a General Contractor license, or specialty licenses by trade (~60 specialties such as concrete, welding tile, ) https://www.cslb.ca.gov/about_us/library/licensing_classific...My Q: does Maryland and DC area have similar requirements? 

It is our full time job (so no other W2 job for us).

We have one property managers whose job is to be our eviction Laison across the whole portfolio.

I’m in the process of managing 18 units and have a full-time job.

Hey, awesome job building equity and renovating your place!

@Brandon Dixon starting out by passively investing in apartment syndications is a great approach, especially if you have a full-time job.

Misinformation stating that the guru dropped out of school, was fired from his job, failed in his business startup, but when he discovered” the “secret” of real estate investing, met with almost instantaneous success7.

I'm an investor here in Columbus OH myself and have seen the city's solid and steady growth with strong economic fundamentals driving the market like major companies moving here (Meta, Intel, Google, Amazon, etc), job growth, and population growth.