I'm also putting away money into 401k (roth) from my job as it's giving away free money matching.Unfortunately the support from work is not giving me adequate tools to plan my future considering my real estate and my goals.My plan is to keep the real estate until i can suck out all the depreciation (or most) then exchange like-kind property to not have to pay that money back.

There needn't be a 'ton' of equity, simply enough to support an appraisal of the asset that allows one to refinance their entire investment out.

Some admit they 'worked off the books' to avoid child support, others just had no clue how to take advantage of the many tax deferral plans or appreciate the advantage of Social security later in life as most have nothing saved. 

Section 8 is support that is attached to the tenant, not the house. 

You want to find a location that will support the use/uses of real estate for a very very long time - hundreds of years. 

I am sorry for such a low level stump so to speak, but I am torn on this and my network of support is lacking since I haven’t put the work into building it.

What are the splits, fees, support, etc.

It's always great to have a support system and connections who can help you through the process - especially for your first one!  

You need to make sure to frame your offer from the perspective of an appraiser and supply supporting information to justify a lower offer than asking.Cash doesn’t mean much in this market unless they are highly motivated and need to close quickly or have multiple offers with contingencies.

Sharing the numbers with an easy to understand setup to educate my clients, thorough due diligence support, negotiation of price and terms and keeping the deal alive through three delays from the lender over the holidays.