For instance, you can get your license in Massachusetts but you aren't able to practice until you affiliate with a brokerage.

Find Brandon's videos on YouTube for the "four square" method of analyzing homes and practice.

I want to purchase a property within 6-8 months of finishing my loan payments and ideally I would use this year to continue learning and crunching numbers on properties that I find for practice, but have no idea what my budget should be because I have no idea what loan amount I might get approved for...I would like to do FHA for the 3.5% down and looking at qualifications I should be able to qualify, but I feel like until I actually sit down and see what exactly I can get approved for, there is a huge gap in my planning...

@Marko Kustudia To be compliant with NV laws, you are supposed to have a contact person within same county or 60 miles:  NRS 118A.260  Disclosure of names and addresses of managers and owners; emergency telephone number; service of process.Regardless of that, having a property manager for long-distance ownership is really a business best practice anyway.

In general, rental real estate is considered passive.There are some exceptions.You normally hire a professional because he/she is knowledgeable in the field that they practice in.

I'm unfamiliar with their practice. 

Regardless of the IL shenanigans, best practice is to build a relationship with someone you can trust as opposed to feeding off the bottom price.  

As Jordan mentioned, your most realistic and practical route is to secure a W2, save your capital, build your credit, and minimize any outstanding debt you owe.

The world of maintenance has changed quickly to stop the practice of 30-day billing.

Wondering if I should buy it through our newly setup LLC or buy it under our name.Background:-we are both physicians practicing for greater than 10 years, have multiple assets via outside investments and collectible cars, etc, so we set up a LLC for the REI venture-obtained HELOC (primary residence) for $164k fixed at 3.39% for 30 years ($726/mo) through our long-term bank (since 2007)-buying our first investment residential property for $215k all cash, due to multiple bids SFP with seller choosing us due to cash buy and they rejected a higher offer that required mortgage contingency (BP calculator: +$145/mo cash flow after HELOC, expenses, etc)1.