There are also contractual things that can be done (discuss with an attorney who is knowledgeable in your industry) such as hold harmless, requirements that if they hire a sub that the sub must also meet any requirements for the insurance, etc.

Ideally, we could find a brick industrial type building where we could rent the ground level commercially for about the PITI, and live close to rent free above in a loft like space.

Uber and Lyft fought the taxi cab industry and up-ended that industry. 

Lot: 15000 sq ft  2 unit building , 2 story , total 1500 sq ft , Just one room on second story , Detached heated garage 1100 sq ft with an office Numbers: assessed value: 285 kUnder contract : 180KExterior: Average plusInterior : leave the walls , but change everythingSome basic Ideas I had :1.

Being licensed means taking on a legal duty that limits one's ability to take certain actions other investors can take.I know people who became licensed stock brokers but never got a job in the industry.

On average the S&P 500 / stock market grows at a multiple of real estate (as much as folks on these forums think otherwise).

Inventory stays forever on the market in smaller markets and if you're going the HML route, the interest costs will eat into your profits in no time.Don't view a market as expensive or cheap purely based on the average price of a property.

You meet a lot of great industry professionals and learn a ton by proxy. 

I spend most of my time traveling around Asia doing equipment sales in the automotive industry.

If you look at Las Vegas case shiller data from 1987 to 2018, on average, today Las Vegas house price has less than 3.6% raise each year since 1987.