This means: different strategies being recommended to achieve those goals.

Now rinse and repeat several times and you will achieve great things. 

I am an investor friendly Broker, which means that I understand investors and can help you achieve your real estate goals here in CT.

My primary goal is to achieve financial independence and be able to avoid the 9-5 job requirement.

Its quite another to actually do it.As you progress you will learn to set goals, (achievable, DEFINATE not general goals).  

What I am looking for is to able to help the investor to achieve their dream (because that is my dream to, I just don't have cash to do it yet) and learn from them.

As long as those two criteria can be met and you can generate rental income in such a way as to make a substantial match with the safe harbor in 2008-16 there is no reason why you can't enjoy the favorable financing of 2nd home along with a 1031 - that is if the dti can be achieved.

My long-term goal is to achieve financial independence through semi-passive real estate income combined with my wife's salary.   

In this case it is referred to as good debt because it allowed you to achieve a beneficial outcome of which you would otherwise not been able to achieve.

You keep repeating this "success cycle" until you achieve your target goal.