His goal was to retire and was open to seller-financing.

Your target investor might be someone not as focused on cash flow but a long term hold for retirement build up.

I don't know what you do for a living, but with that kind of capital, you may want to think about full-time investing for the next few years, whether it's hard assets, paper, etc, then semi-retire when the money starts flowing. 

I upgraded to PRO because I thought it was a small price to pay for all the information that BP has been able to offer.I was in the mortgage business for about 10 years before the crash so I have a little bit of insight but so many things have changed.I am basically looking to set myself up for retirement.

Currently renting a condo.I am reading Rich Dad and Retire Rich with Rentals and really excited to get this all started.

I want to retire early with investment rentals but I won't ever be able too if I don't start.

I, like you, realized that being in the medical field is not what I see myself retiring from when I get old and gray.

We also had skilled contractors who volunteered, one was the retired city building inspector.

I have a friend that his mother has around 900k in investments ( stock market, retirement and savings account)  and owns no real estate. 

Ultimately when I no longer want to be a Realtor and also manage my individual California properties (semi-retire), will hopefully have a large chunk of equity to 1031 into larger multifamily somewhere.Or style?