A real estate investor’s strategy should be dependent on the individuals financial means, available time to commit & and objectives.

And than we go to "mission" to fight the battle to achieve our mission objective. 

I am actually in the middle of discovering that process myself, and it has been a roller coaster of emotion, but I have started feeling experiences of how trust in other people can get you achieving the objectives faster than we think.I have got several off-market deals in Central Texas currently available, and can help you learn a thing or two about our market down here, and more than happy to refer you to folks in Illinois.

So my goal is replace my w2 income and objective 1 is cashflow (not the negative kind!).

Listening to too many other investors will give you shining object syndrome... also many of local investors, and millionaires I talk to locally have said they creating most of their networth owning San Diego real estate.   

Tap into that, as there is a lot to learn about the business, but don't chase shiny objects and get too bogged down. 

The additional objections you mentioned, I'm willing to address as they arise, and preventing through contract addendums.

A lasting legacy for your family may be achieved by making deliberate decisions and maintaining focus on your objectives.

to further these objectives I am planning to start the acquisition process as “cash only” plus some forced appreciation, put into LTR or managed MTR, establish records and build a very healthy reserve account attached to the property, refinance with low DTI to pull some equity for next acquisition. i started building a spreadsheet but thought “I know I am not the only one, why reinvent the wheel without reason?”

It's really managing stress, once you know how to really not feel that stress towards the topic, goal, or objective, you will make it look easy.The most successful people I know don't have a swagger personally, they have confidence.