It's nothing like having a passion and discovering the great ways of making money doing that which you love.

keep in mind that seattle may be looking at rent control and they have recently instituted an "inspection" program that requires the city "experts" inspect your rentals to ensure they are up to standards.....i would never buy in seattle

In any case you need to run your own numbers and evaluation of the property to see what you can discover and by running the numbers I mean have someone inspect the property for discovery more than anything else. 

Can anyone suggest an institution to get the education from?

It will be awhile before you can get a stated income HELOC (home equity line of credit) from a traditional (bank) institution.  

This is unsustainable in the long run and is largely driven by the fact that there are few other viable alternative investments available and private and institutional investors have entered the commercial market seeking yield. 

Germain Depository Institutions Regulation Act that might be applicable to what you are doing: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1998-12-05/news...I would like a clearer idea of what you're asking however, so you and a partner will form a partnership LLC, and take out a loan from a bank?

In addition to sourcing the deal, I also negotiate it, help place debt on it with an institution, private investor or hard money lender and then asset manage it after the deal closes.  

It pushes me to read more and discover, which I think makes me a better owner.

Discover which areas you can find the best Purchase price to rent ratios.