If you want pure cash flow it needs to be compared to the 2% rule, if you want more safety and possible appreciation you are unlikely to find it. 

Start with $10m as an aspirational goal and revise as needed : ) As i said, pure skill I don't think can get you there--so it doesn't seem necessary to define what that skill set looks like.

My previously mentioned stance on the subject was based purely on benefits perceived from my side (the sender's side).

These things are all clearly eugenics, and while you may not choose to partake of these scientific advances, there is nothing inherently evil about any of them (unless you want to invoke religious arguments that aren't applicable to most people or just want to invoke pure opinion, which doesn't necessarily apply to anyone other than you).

I'm doing my best to write this from a non-judgmental and purely inquisitive perspective.

I can understand that prior to 9/11 we could consider this kind of talk pure rhetoric.

I am not saying someone should not become a wholesaler or lender, I am just recommending that folks don't bother becoming a real estate investor(in its pure form, buying income producing assets) unless they are going to invest and know what their goals are and work to achieve them.If this is discouraging to you and you quit, good for you, you have realized that real estate investing is not for you.

I'm just talking about investing with someone that has the same skin in the same game as you do - rather than a pure 'sevice provider'.)Regarding the location, I ran up against many of the out-of-state issues mentioned here when I first started looking, until I realized I could find cash flow in the East Bay.

Their decision should be purely based on market analysis, loss tolerances, and congressional hearings!

As in: Yes we ruin the country the old fashion way, with pure capitalism taking money form the poor and giving it to the rich but you, you socialist you are doing it in a blasphemous way...