I'll be living this dream some day, but it isn't straight out of the gate and it is A LOT of work to get the right team in place.  

Great to see you taking action on your dream.

It looks great to a lender -- bank, hard money, or private -- if you decide to pursue financing of any kind.While I know many people dream of dropping their day job to do RE investing full-time, I'd encourage you to leverage the credibility of your day job as you start to build cash flow and wealth.

I think that is probably a pretty steep goal though, but if you can dream it.... :)I'm sure there are better/smarter ways to grow money in an IRA/tax deferred, but income is important to us now.

That isn't the dream, however.  

Although we live in an excellent school district, its very large and isn't the dream we pictured raising a family.

So, there it is folks...I've bore my soul and my innermost hopes, dreams, and desires on this forum. 

just looking for advise in how or when I should finally start my dream in investing in real estate.thanks! 

It's an investment, not your dream home.

We are starting a new journey this year with REI, we have accumulated enough capitol through "live in flips" that we are now able to build our dream home on an acre lot (loan and mortgage free) and still have capitol to be able to flip and or build with out having to live in them.