Take 4 courses a semester to maintain full-time status (there are numerous benefits to that status), get a RE license as soon as possible, and start making networking inroads.

We have inherited numerous tenants living in properties with an oral lease with the seller and have bought properties where the tenant names were not even completely documented-- all they had was a first name and an oral lease (jodi, apt. #1, 375.00, tommie smith, apt #2 ) We have tenants where the original lease holders have moved out and left adult children who never signed a new lease.

Not saying all realtors are shady but during the 2008-2012 period I made at least 10-15 seprate offers on hot properties in socal and numerous of times I saw a property end up being sold for less than i offered.

We are newbies just starting out and trying to get a feel for which category to invest in.

The $75,000 figure is an older class C property in my area (but in good overall condition for its age), while one would hope the $250,000 unit is a class A property in yours... so there is obviously a category difference there, with advantages to the A class property.  

You want to think of the 1031 as just the vehicle that can be used to reposition those assets in numerous ways. 

@Ryan BoltmanWe've helped many investors just like yourself build a successful rental portfolio across numerous cash flow markets.

It has some fantastic reporting for repairs (broken down by the specific category), CapEx (including date placed in service and useful life tracking), and occupancy percentages. 

This doesn't fall in that category to me.

Just listen to the podcasts, there are numerous ways to invest in this industries, and bad numbers for one person could be great for someone in a different situation with different goals.