For my husband, it took seeing that we could still make money without him being so actively involved (he never wanted to hire anyone but resented having to do it, himself, and that attitude drove us both nuts).   

Welcome, @Chris R.SoCal can be a tough nut to crack for newbies.A couple years ago I mailed out lots of letters to homeowners in LA County with no luck.Then I tried rural Kern County and got a deal from a distressed homeowner in California City.The margins were not as large as they would've been in LA or OC, but I was able to rent it out for 2 years before fixing it up and selling it for a decent gain.Also, have you considered an owner-occupied small multifamily for your first deal?

I am a personal finance nut!

They don't get into the detailed nuts and bolts of it though. 

Just nuts but if you can reinvest and make the 10% spread then it totally makes sense, right.

He colects rent, and has no nut to crack at the end of the month.Daddy payed for everything.

As someone who is finally feeling somewhat competent to dip his feet into the REI waters, I find this kind of "nuts and bolts" information very helpful (and encouraging).

I was in the USO (US Oil Fund) ETF for a while, but after going nuts trying to figure out the taxes I just sold it.

If that happens I may need to take a few days off of class to come back up and watch this city go NUTS.

You really gained a profound and amazing experience from a course, that led to going from residential investing, to apartment investing, which is actually residential in a nut shell.