I have officially initiated my real estate education a couple of weeks back and wish to build a solid foundation to setup and grow a new source of income.

I then put that money toward a larger house for my growing family, but I've always been interested in real estate as an investment. 

I happen to live in a growing very aggressive market so was just wondering how much weight to put in the “grading”Joe

If you are out of state I might try other markets as well, but with that being said this is a great part of the country and the population is growing rapidly.

This is not a case of "growing too fast - too much demand - or getting duped by your partners" all of which are excuses made by investors for this company.They are choosing to take advantage of unsuspecting investors.I have written so many times about the phrase "rent ready". 

I propose that you focus on one strategy/path of all those you listed, find the repeatable thing that you can turn into a business which will then grow and support you and enable you to quit your other job.Check out The One Thing, see if that helps.

I own an e commerce company and my wife stays home so I figure I could use my expertise and her time, plus my fathers mls capabilities to continue the revenue stream and grow it.

If you can put your money into an asset that is growing at 5-7%, and you can get a line of credit against that asset at Prime, then anything you do with that borrowed money that earns more than Prime is adding value on top of the dividend/interest crediting rate of the cash value in the policy.

I'm interested in Evansville there seems to be growing opportunities.

I am super excited about this opportunity and look forward to learning from and growing with this community!