I wouldn't bet on either at this stage but if you like a gamble...

Trying to weed people out at local REI meetings to be possible mentors is also gamble and a huge time suck.

Myself I had my title company pull every NOD in the MSA which was 4 counties 2.5 mil people. create a spread sheet and they would up date it daily as new NOD's came in.they would give me address  lien position  tax information and lien judgment search.. having our title plants digitized and off shore allows for this data to be gotten in a few clicks.. then when I got my short list I would give them that list about 48 hours before the sale and they would do a date down for me on those..

Over 90% of the textile industry from US has been offshored.

To depend on the rates to drop substantially to cover refi cost is a gamble.

One learns very quickly and unfortunately usually the hard way that cash tenants are a huge gamble and that section 8 is the only way to find healthy, consistent, positive cash flow in Detroit and many of the other inner cities accross America.

And your gambling a LOT of $ on trying something out, via purchasing a property to try the waters.     

In some cases, gross income can include recurring capital gains or unrealized income, winnings from a day of gambling, rental income, and sometimes even interest earned on retirement accounts.

I would take the gamble that rates will fall on their own over the next 3 years and live with the result. 

It's like gambling for them but will want a much higher pref and much higher equity upside from syndicator because of little to no track record.