Most parts of REI are difficult at first, stay active and things will fall into place.

He's an active wholesaler and does retail fix/flips. 

There is an active real estate investor group in Little Rock you might want to connect with.

The guest on the program has a great analogy breaking it down "first you have to vacuum the truck"...just listen to find out.As they discuss in this podcast a lot of us starting out feel like we need to have everything lined up before we make a move. 

Can any of experienced fellow REIs kindly teach me what activities I need to do to avoid those risks?

lots of resources here,  one local guy on here i know is active with oil and gas and might be a good resource for you on that end. 

My current primary residence has a garage that was converted into a 1 BR guest house decades ago. 

Do you have the funds to take down the deal or this a just for fun activity that is for your personal edification with the hope that one day the money will be there? 

I guest I've done things backwards.

Preferably as many units as possible but with hidden value in making improvements (the unfinished attic in our current house was a goldmine) a.My feeling is auctions are good place to go for this but I don’t know anything about auctions. 3.Rent a property to live in for the first year I can’t subject my fiancé to living in a gut rehab again 4.Use the cash generated from the property and work during that first year to put together a down payment for a house for us. 5.Re finance the rental property and buy more property.These are my other day one questions: 1.I’m an architect, does anyone have any advice for actively leveraging my skills to help me do this real estate investing thing full time/ what career change could help me ease into this while still having a salary?