And that was: as difficult as it is, real estate has a very real possibility of changing my life for the better if I arm myself with the right knowledge, people, and (eventually) resources to make it happen. 

If you're mother is an accredited investor, eventually wants to sell some of her properties and she wants to defer her capital gains tax she might consider reinvestment into DSTs (Delaware Statutory Trusts).

Eventually I plan to do the same with another four-plex about 2-5 years down the line.

The reason is if you expand your REI investing you may eventually want PM services.  

It doesn't have to be complicated but eventually you'll want something to show to a potential investor so they can see their return.  

The initial thought was to hold whatever profits for capital to be able to eventually obtain these properties for rehab and flip.

Hello guys just wanna throw this out there to see what you think. Let's say I buy a two family house that generates about $800 profit every month. That's after all expenses are paid. The taxes keep going up yearly. Ar...

This will eventually be a master suite:

Eventually when I build up my capital I will start working on more long term holding scenarios.

Hubby and I  bought a 2 family last year and rehabbed it, we are hoping to sell it next year for a profit (60-80K) and use that capital to start flipping homes and eventually do this full time.