I don't want to do this as a hobby but turn this into my career and my aggressive mindset will surely lead me down that path however I truly feel like I will not be comfortable doing this until I know I have someone I can rely on in the industry.

I was considering obtaining a a Realtor Associate License in the very near future for a couple of reasons.  1) It would provide a good fall back into an industry that I very much want to be a part of.  2) Doing it now would allow me to meet the experience timeline to have my Broker's License prior to retirement.  

So true about the path to success in this industry and how there are so many different ways to success because of the many different focuses in the Real Estate Industry.  

i work in the finance industry in midtown Manhattan. 

I would love to take things to the next level and put together a syndication deal on something on a much larger scale 20, 50, 75 + complex or something along those lines...I have a pretty good network and feel I can definitely raise capital as I work in the financial services industry and know a lot of people.... 

Steve Vaughan The 401k plan is one of the worse plans that the industry has come up with.

Charleston, SCFor the past 10 years the economic growth has been in the top 40 cities based on the Milkin Institute’s reports.The major industry is manufacturing of transportation with Mercedes and Boeing investing in facilities in the area.The Port of Charleston allows for easy importing and exporting from the city.While there is a high-tech sector, Charleston is not as reliant as other high growth cities.Charlotte, NCWith the exception of 2009-2012, the economy has been in the top 30 cities for economic growth based on the Milkin Institute’s reports over the past 10 years.The economy is less reliant on technology compared to other high-growth cities.Instead it relies on state policies to entice companies to relocate to the state.

This is standard in the real estate industry. 

I'm new to the RE industry and have finally taken action and found leads.

The fact of the matter is that the cartel known as "Realtors(TM)" has a complete monopolistic stranglehold on the industry.