I am still focused on being my own boss and putting in the incredibly hard work of being a successful real estate investor in the buy and hold philosophy.If there is any advice, or wise words that you'd like to impart on me as a beginner here in Knoxville, TN or just in general, I would very much appreciate it!

My primary focus is to great passive income and too secure Financial freedom so I can enjoy the time I’m given with family and friends.My main focus is buy and hold rentals (single family, and multi units) but wouldn’t be opposed to a fix and flip or wholesale, I personally think having some of both helps with an exit strategy depending on the market.

Finding a creditable tenant is what some of us Landlords focus on.But, sometimes credit don't really tell the whole story about the individual.

Looking over how many investors generally work LOs, they tend to focus on just the "pretty houses."

As I look to start building my real estate holdings, I will focus on local projects first. 

You would make a ton of money if you focus on finding problem deals you can add value, meaning solving an issue either on the buyer or on the seller side or both!

I'm planning on doing macroeconomic research on out of state areas with similar to larger populations until I pinpoint a couple of good markets where the cost to build new units far exceeds the cost to buy existing units so that I can focus on investing on these type of properties there.

@William Robowski I know some people who have some rentals, and those who focus on AirBnb.

I considered it this year but have decided to focus on a different area for now.

So... we are working with a friend on doing a cash-out refi but the new payment is a little hard to swallow since it's $300 more/month and we've been so focused on getting out of debt...