I recently graduated college and started my career as a mechanical engineer and have recently decided that while I love my job I don't want to work for the rest of my life, and real estate investing makes the most sense to me in order to gain financial freedom before I turn 60.I have been reading a ton of real estate books and discovered the bigger pockets book on rental property investing which gave me a great introduction to all the topics and possibilities in real estate.

In May of 2016 my wife and I decided to quit throwing away money on renting and attempt our first live-in flip.  

I decided to rent it out at ratios that are similar to yours.

I decided to start searching out of state these past couple of years.

If you decide not to pay him, thats a liability.  

If you decide that military is a long term career, then you can start buying a home whenever you move to a new area -- with the mindset that you will then convert it to a rental when you leave.

SFR and zoned R2, we considered building out the property and ultimately decided it was more profitable to sell it.

Ultimately went with American Classic but you could always bid between the two.For plumbing I just met a local Master Plumber randomly the other day and decided to save his info just on how he carried himself and the multiple years he's been in the business but still being young.

From my conversations with Realtors and REIs on BP, I've learned that many realtors are focused on closing deals with the average single-family home buyer.What happens if this average buyer decides they want to rent out their home?

I know a lot of property management companies out there will pay a referral fee to the realtors that send them positive leads.This is great as long as the PM company is reliable.When working with REIs, your word is your bond, and you need to vet the PM companies before sending referrals their way.Also, you probably want to make sure the PM company sends the lead back to you if they decide to sell.Am I missing anything?