When I first started my investing career, I started with DealMachine and was sending out Direct Mail Marketing.

That would kick start your lending career quite nicely.

There is an amazing difference in knowledge, skill, and experience between long term agents with whom real estate is their career (life) and the agent whose in real estate because he’s a career SALESMAN selling the hottest thing; you know, the guy who’ll be selling oil well drilling participations next year, and advertising services the year after. 

However, if you’re early in your investment career and plan to grow at some point down the line, then it mathematically makes no sense paying down either with extra principal payments.

I joined bigger pockets to meet with like-minded investors and start my career goal of fixing and flipping houses. 

I house-hacked a duplex in Baltimore in 2021 which really kick started my career.

As for going back to work, I had a very successful investor tell me that you need to have constant cash in the beginning of your REI career.

Perform due diligence, including soil tests, environmental assessments, and surveys to ensure the land is suitable for construction.

And also engaged with institutional investors on a regular basis.I'm highly entrepreneurial and figured out that what I really want to do in my professional career is US multifamily investments.What I've done so far is selecting the markets I'm interested in (in TX), building a comprehensive financial model to analyze deals, and creating a very detailed due diligence list.

Given the fact that it is possible to get stationed at the same base sometime in the future during what could be a 20,30, or even 40 year career some decide to keep the property.