Investors who get in now can take advantage of this long-term growth while enjoying consistent returns.Bottom line—if you’ve been thinking about investing in real estate, now is the time to make a move.

It is not very difficult or complicated to evaluate commercial real estate, there are plenty of good books available that can teach you how, textbooks, online courses, community college classes, even excellent youtube videos etc, and it is actually quite enjoyable in the process to learn.

Realtor; "Picture yourself kicking up your feet & enjoying some me time"Me; Its a freaking hoarder house that I'm gonna flip!

Through the years he enjoyed positive cash flow with the last ten years cash flowing at about $17,500 annually.  

Just shop around online, look for properties similar to yours, add them to favorites and watch them to see how long it takes for them to rent.

However, I don't find the long vacancy particularly enjoyable, and I'm hoping to gain some insight and grow from the experience.Has anyone else experienced this, and what did you do to avoid it?

As you read these books, watch the BiggerPockets podcasts.

I enjoy tenants turnover ever few years for the reason fair market rents tend to increase significantly year over year. 

Watch out for any debt you had on your SFR.  

You'll need to really look at yourself and understand what you do well and enjoy, at the end of the day if you enjoy what you do you'll have more drive be successful everyday.