Then find your price range.2, Learn how to analyze a income property, put in your living there as part of expense, and see if it will lead you to where you want to be. 3, If you can find a good discount property, you earn equity from day 1 and that will help you to get your goal faster.4, I think a duplex is surely make more sense based on your goal.

It would then rent much faster to advertise it that way?

I am hoping that this will motivate him to finish faster as he can maximize his dollar per hour with a quicker completion time.  

Well, it all sounded good: small notes of about $10,000 to $20,000, which means there is not only a low barrier to entry for a beginner, but you can more quickly roll the proceeds into another note, which allows for faster compounding of returns.

If you sell and buy 2 more houses you will be buying two more loans...sounds like you already have a great rate and a 20 year loan builds equity so much faster than a 30....so thats good.  

The faster you get your money back, the faster you can reinvest, and the faster you can grow.

If your job affords you the opportunity to do so at a faster pace than flipping then continue that course.  

I'm sure there is no shortage of opinions on what may kick-start a long-term buy and hold RE career faster.

So for you to investing time creating your network and improving you skills will help you achieve your goals easier and faster. 

It's tough to look at a current report and understand where things are if you don't know where they came from.Personally, I also think good commercial brokers are worth their weight in gold.