I consider myself to be under one year from beginning to obtain my first property, and therefore a complete and utter newbie somewhere in the beginning of the dunning-kruger graph.

It was a good milestone to cross and it's opened my eyes to how else I can be effective in this industry.

So after diligently saving and investing in stocks for a few year, having both good and bad years, I hit the low 5 figures. a great mile stone for a guy in his late 20's who came from a poor family. 

When you get your TAM report from your broker or via your data search, you should see something similar to one of these graphs: My graphs are based on public records, not MLS or Zdata, so there may be some discrepancy in your graphs.

Not short term...long term...with an actual number with a "$" in front.2 - Work your way backwards (reverse engineer) from step #1 by breaking down Step #1 into smaller mini steps...I like to call them "achievable measurable milestones".3 - Define the financial criteria, as in "how much profit" or  "cash flow" must you get at each of your Milestones.4 - Go find the micro-markets where the property profiles align with each of the different criteria from Step #3...they will be different profiles since the criteria will be different.5 - Decide on the best strategy, or strategies, that will achieve each Milestone.6 - Run a practice/test using actual properties...as if you were doing it for real.7 - Now...do it for real.

Dinners, important milestones (weddings, baby showers, housewarming parties), coffee and other meetings.

I had an acquaintance who purchased 11 mortgage notes between 2004 and 2007, reached a certain milestone in passive cash flow, closed his business, and intended to live off the interest while starting a real estate syndication operation.

The only reason I was considering the OZ route is because I was reading if I had the house for 5 years that's one of the OZ milestones in which I can reduce my tax burden?

I always provide numbers, proof, graphs, concrete evidence that what ever I say is actually valid, so pay attention!

As far as our personal strategy, I think we are going to strive to replace my income with our properties, then once we meet that milestone, reach out and partner.