I thought my best bet would be to become an agent so I could learn how the real estate market works, gain capital, and most importantly create relationships with people who can show me the ropes and point me in the right direction.

You have the right motivated seller, you can create your own terms and opportunities.Example 1: My brother and I bought a 25 unit mobile home park last year.

@Gaston Barua-You would be better served if you had an experienced individual, hold your hand through the underwriting process of scrutinizing a deal with a careful eye ( and with some good software), as no two deals you encounter will be the same.Books are wonderful, only to a certain extent.  

We plan to create a separate LLC to hold the property as well. 

And if the latter is the case, is there anything I can do to create a note that is not assessed as part of the debt for the property, but is rather stand-alone debt?

My first goal is to create a sound investment plan then to move forward and purchase my first property before I graduate in ten months.

Both of these examples are generally relegated to the well heeled homeowner due to the costs and individualized nature of the final product.

I know I'm only temporary to the Mass area and it may not be the market I end up investing in but I know I learn best from experiencing first hand and picking the brain of more experienced individuals. 

I make my living on working with more affluent individuals who want to trade equity for ease of transaction.

I am also looking for an AZ lic RE agent who would be willing to pull comps and help me locate individuals that would advise me on the condition of the homes that I have under contract but no idea of their condition and repo assessments.