Meanwhile I'm getting the education required to be an agent and will evaluate after completing the education on whether or not I want to move forward with 'taking the test.'

Assuming you go FHA, your down payment is back down to 3.5% which expands that purchasing power, and with FHA you have to pass the self-sufficiency test on 3-4 unit properties. 

If you find projects with rents far below market and high vacancy, it may be a deeply distressed property and it could wind up being a capital intensive endeavor.

The true test is when you initial sphere runs out where do you generate business and HOW?

I'm stacking capital to weather any stormsI'm still buying properties, good deals at low interest rates are the name of the game in any market.I'm working on non-cash intensive efforts like marketing and brandinglastly, I'm selling off any under-producing assets I ownnone of this is recession indicator driven behavior as it's all pretty standard but my motivation is a bit higher based on how the market looks (crunched!) 

The IRS uses a test of 20 factors in the determination. 

Doctors used home office to treat emergency patient failed the regular test in the tax court. it will not qualify for the home office deduction if use is only occasional.Exclusive-have to be exclusive, and has no other use of the space. 

The bad news, though, is the intense amount of knowledge required to begin to make the right assumptions in the first place...

test the market, do a property or two and if you like how it goes you can always grow from there. 

@Dan Bryskin that's a great strategy, but capital intensive to keep buying conventionally.