Best of luck with your career choice!

You are in good company on this website because most of us are here pursuing our own side businesses so that we will not have to rely on the income of a traditional job.

This might be a solution to your self employment / bank not wanting to loan problem.That said hard money loans are short term so if you are wanting to do a rental you will want to explore a good exit strategy such as refinancing with a traditional lender once you have seasoning.

Excellent choices for well-established neighborhoods.

I think you'll likely have to go through a regular short sale process to get a discount from the second, assuming it's a traditional lender.

They are efficient, been used in other countries for years, are good choice for smaller units, and can be cheaper than central HVAC. 

Right now I am enjoying absorbing all the info here on BP.It seems like I can gain the most ground financially with more units, perhaps a quad is the best choice if I can find a good deal.

Very good choice.  

It's a tough choice... in order to get the egg.... you gotta feed the chicken... and take care of it.  

Instead of renting the traditional way, I'd like to do a Lease To Own or a Lease with an Option to purchase.