Education, networking and some resources will help greatly.

I have been to several auctions myself just for educational purposes.

Plenty of education time.

As a new person to REI, and in the same area, I look forward to seeing your journey.

That sounds strange, but you have nothing holding you back from venturing out of your security...because you have lost that security blanket that was your job.I would venture to say, that most of the success stories in history, started out where you are right now...me included.So, with nothing holding you back, and with plenty of time on your hands (time will always be your greatest asset...since you can never get it back), if you want to get into REI, you need to do the following:1 - Learn,2 - Learn some more,3 - Keep learning.Places to learn (before you say "that costs money"), that don't cost any money are:1 - Online education sites that have free articles written by experts in their fields.2 - Free e-books, that you can get online.3 - Joining your local REIC's to both learn and network.4 - ...and never stop learning...even when you become a success at this (and you will)Also, three very critical actions you MUST follow to be a success:1 - Always think possitive.2 - Train yourself to think of future "obstacles" as temporary problems...and you are the problem solver. 

Good luck on the journey 👍

I’m happy to be here, happy to be connected to you all, and open to learning from anything you think would help me on my journey. 

Don't assume the city won't try to call your bluff and hope you just take their word for it instead of educating yourself. 

I do both sales and property management, so networking with investors who are interested in Raleigh has been a big part of my business.You also can't beat the (FREE) education you will get here!

@Hannah Kingslien the first thing you need to do is educate yourself on the costs.