At this stage in my investing career I don't buy things that don't cash flow, so if the fixer upper is going to bleed cash until it's fixed, I wouldn't invest in it. 

In between we have the life’s, careers, wealth, satisfaction of real people, and their contribution to the enhancement of society. 

. ;-) It's a field I have marginal interest in as a means of tracking how the market is doing.

I guess the place to do probates is in the dying fields of Florida, Retired and heirs back up north.

Take your time to research and interview several brokerages beyond eXp to see if they fit what you need in your career right now. 

My wife started her career by 1st getting a realtor's license, then got a job with a real estate agent who's a former classmate.

Thanks to my W2 career I am comfortable with being house rich, cash poor for now atleast so we will see how this all shakes out 10, 20 years from now.One thing that is true is that property management fees on STRs are an absolute profit killer, and honestly it hurts my soul, but I have to remind myself of the opportunity cost of time saved by doing this, which in-turn allows me to focus on other income generating projects.

I wanting to make a career change and was curious if it makes sense to do all , if not majority of the renovations and pay myself instead of paying contractors?

I converted a few apartments to that purpose, and listed them with a company specializing in that field, however they have not found a tenant yet, and I've listed with them for 2+ months.Would you be able to share which company you are using?

I'm 51, been a corporate drone for most of my career, but made a leap of faith about two years ago and launched a small but growing tent and event rental business as a side gig.