It would be great to find a partner that I can team up with for my first investment, BRRRR or house flip so that I can reduce my risk and learn sooner.

You will need to determine her additional yearly costs and reduce her rent accordingly.For the first year you will need to do monthly comparisons to last year and send her a refund check.

She still has her brokerage license, so I plan on getting a real estate agent license to reduce costs on closing deals in the future and to get a stronger background in real estate.My short term real estate goals are:- Get my real estate license in the next three months- Purchase my first investment in the next year. 

Passive, earned, and portfolio.

I initially wanted to pay this off and then start earning a return.

At the same time, stretched affordability after years of price gains, and the reduced deduction for state and local taxes, are weighing on certain markets, especially in high-cost coastal areas

Your choice would be to earn $750 per month in income and hoard th ecash in yur property praying the markets do not turn or sell and reinvest to earn potentially $2900 per month.Probably the same risk with more than 3X the reward.

.- no title seasoning on cash out refinances unlike FHA which has 12 months of title seasoning after purchase before you can use market value value or conventional which requires 6 months after acquisition (this applies to CO refinances where you used financing initially to purchase not DFE or delayed financing exception which is an all cash purchase and there is no lien/deed recorded on the property at the time of close), This becomes very handy for  creative RE entrepreneur once you learn how to force equity through adding value to properties you can use VA's no title seasoning advantage to increase the speed at which you move from deal to deal quicker than Conv/FHA- no self sufficiency rule when owner occupying 3-4 unit properties which FHA has (a rule that makes buying 3-4 unit FHA properties in high cost areas nearly impossible) so this a huge plus- use of rental income or other peoples income (OPI) to help you qualify on your 2-4 unit VA purchase (FHA and Conv does allow this too)There's a lot more you can do to optimize your mortgage planning from an investors perspective.With the introduction of the 2018 Tax Cuts, you can structure your taxes strategically to not only greatly reduce the tax impact but also remain bankable to most money sources.

You didn't earn it. 

If you earn income through an LLC this entity has to file a federal (and potentially state) tax return.