Yes, playing monopoly with REAL money and REAL estate is fun, but I think I would prefer more freedom at my age. 

Glad you've taken the red pill and see the path to true financial freedom!

And I don't have to wait 20 to 30 years for some magical "pay the houses off completely" date that some people tend to build up as this holy grail.I'm a believer that you can use rentals and the power of refinancing to grow your income to that financial freedom point much faster than most people suggest in here.

There's no commission splits and you have the freedom of controlling all of your own costs and marketing.

It's a good read:  "Stop Flipping Stop Renting: Seller Finance Your Way to Financial Freedom" by Arch and Saengerhausen.  

My goal is to grow my portfolio to a point in which I have the freedom to continue on my career path or choose to live off passive income.

Then when you graduate and get a job you have the freedom to move where you want and get something that makes sense then vs now. 

For Californians, OOS investing is the only way to go if you are starting off and want to accelerate your financial freedom, in my opinion.  

It is hard to make a plan about the financial freedom i want to achieve since I'm not exactly sure where i will be in 5 years but as of right now for the next two and a half i will be in eastern VA but plan on moving back to NJ (where the property taxes are insane) but that is where i want to plant my feet forever.

We are both healthcare professionals by trade, which will remain our primary source of income, but for the long-term we wish to invest in multiple vacation rentals that provides us financial freedom from our primary source of income and allows us to spend more time outside the four walls and enjoy life.