The ultimate goal is to build enough passive income to not be reliant on my 9-5, to gain more flexibility and control in my career, and to be able to leave behind assets for my wife, daughter, and future kids.In short:1.)

The biggest thing to do now is to mitigate you risk while also achieving high enough clasflow yields that keep you in the green while also given your renters the ability to be flexible.

Tried Mint, YNAB, and other online tools before but nothing beats the flexibility of excel (and I like personal capital for the general view it provides, and the extracts I get of my accounts).

With MFH - You have access to flexible financing if you live in the property.

I am actually a Private Money Lender and I have found that the ability to originate my own Loans, and lending on MY terms, has given me the flexibility and time and life that I always wanted, WAY more than when I tried being a Buy & Hold investor, or even a flipper!

Local banks sometimes have more flexibility on rates and terms than national banks. 

Probably better terms and more flexible.

I do not think that it is too big of an advantage to be both.As an agent I have some flexibility with my time that I can manage my own rentals and look for deals.

They rates are high and fees can be high as well, but it is fast and flexible money.

Longer leases benefit the tenant more than the landlord.With month-to-month, you have more flexibility in how/when you can change the terms of the tenancy and/or increase the rent.