Clearly, each person brings different levels of risk, abilities, etc to the table and have to select a strategy that suits their personalties, preferences, etc.

In the mean time, continue your growth and keep your eys open and your mentor will appear.Lastly, your mentor may not look like what you think a mentor should look like.

the thing is im in college and i dont have a car on campus so my ability to get around is very limited

Then i started to see and hear about people having major problems with these types of loans and foreclosure growth rates started skyrocketing.

The perks of the deal are that the end buyer usually does not have good enough credit to actually purchase a house so instead a lease option is better suited for their current financial abilities.

There are tons of possibilities with notes, options, rentals, flipping, development, etc, but a lot of those options are dependent on your abilities, your interests, and your current financial position.

The benefits are that you don't have to actively be involved managing the property, it provides both monthly cash returns (based on the rents it gets) as well as equity growth and appreciation, and it is much easier to do an even-money exchange into a TIC.

Some companies will pay a small amount of interest on the cash account, but the interest rate on the investment is determined by your abilities to find undervalued properties, sell at a profit and possibly hold the note in the account if you the buyer can't obtain financing elsewhere.

(based on ability to repay)

well that's the thing about buyers agency - it's an oxymoron.realtors are supposed to represent their clients to the best of their ability - yet, as a true buyers agent (signed agreement) - you're looking to work for less because you're trying to get the best deal you can for the buyer...now that doesn't always relate directly to the price, but most often i think it does.