Any junior/senior from a top 100 college in accounting/finance should be able to give you 80%-90% of the same knowledge (without providing a pitch for their coaching/mentorship product).That being said, typically you will need:- Budgeting skills especially comparing against #s promised to investors vs. budget set with PM vs. actual operational results. - Capex tracking by line item for exterior and interior. - Marketing/leads tracker to understand weekly operations- Rent comp surveys (your PM should be able to help you with this)- Portfolio level (if applicable) software that allows you to roll up results by property type.

But developing the skill set to determine which parts of town and which homes as well as the skill set to operate those two low-end homes as successful rentals, that usually takes a lot more specialized, dedicated work than buying a nicer home in a nicer part of town that you may or may not live in and successfully running it as a rental.

While looking for such job in the commercial real estate, think of the skills set that you either have or interested in accumulating as you will not be syndicating properties by yourself.

Whatever skill set you have, coupled with your time, may provide you not only the income to save but also an understanding of the business as well as contacts within the business.

Another one is "Do Better Work" by Max Yoder; as you can tell much of my focus tends to be geared towards the communication aspect of the business but I like to look to other industries for good books on the top skills requisite of that industry (ie. service industry is a great place to look for books on improving communications and sales).

Connecting people is a highly valuable skill!

Becoming a financial analyst may help you build the skills you are looking to obtain to become an investor.You may want to consider working in an accounting department of a small business to gain skills when you open your own business.Becoming an auditor may help you understand industries/trends/ratio's that also may be useful to start your own business.

The more intimidated they are with your appearance, intelligence and interpersonal skills the better you'll be landing a job.

So, my biggest opportunities at this season of my career are knowledge, skills, and relationships.

Learn to do creative financing and learn marketing skills