I might have need to utilize these funds for other reasons in the next year or 2 as well - if other investment opportunities arise, if we move into a bigger house, if I decide to go the self-employment/small business route. 

A lot of forum members are very knowledgeable in their respective fields related to real estate investing, whether that is real estate sales, wholesaling, flipping, rentals, lending, self-directed IRA and Solo 401k investing, or tax and legal guidance.Discounts on some products and services are offered to BP members: https://www.biggerpockets.com/perks/proAlerts can be really helpful too: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alertsThere are a few self-contained guides that you can access here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/guides

Those looking for healthy investments will see great vitality in a way of doing business that provides various services with confidence.

My advice was to continue learning about analyzing deals, estimating rehab costs, gaining confidence with the real estate process, and paying rent. 

The more a developer has done a specific property size in a city, the more confident and less risk.   

Less competition for my colleagues and my self. 

A lot of forum members are very knowledgeable in their respective fields related to real estate investing, whether that is real estate sales, wholesaling, flipping, rentals, lending, self-directed IRA and Solo 401k investing, or tax and legal guidance.Discounts on some products and services are offered to BP members: https://www.biggerpockets.com/perks/proIf you haven’t been to it already, you might want to check out the BP blog: https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/The site has quite a few tools that can be helpful for new members.

A lot of forum members are very knowledgeable in their respective fields related to real estate investing, whether that is real estate sales, wholesaling, flipping, rentals, lending, self-directed IRA and Solo 401k investing, or tax and legal guidance.If you haven’t been to it already, you might want to check out the BP blog: https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/The site has quite a few tools that can be helpful for new members.

Everyone needs to get educated anyway, none of us learned this stuff in school, so get to the point of feeling confident in knowing why you're going forward on any particular deal.I seriously doubt you'll find cash flow in Portland.Not sure the rent control laws in OR, but if they're anything like they are in Los Angeles, they can be detrimental to an owner, yes.

Only if the coffee shop is in the lobby of a moving and storage service.Not to be offensive, but I would suggest you might have better success with property management.There are lots of people who can self manage, but I always say one of the things most property managers are great at vs most individual self managers is enforcing deadlines and collecting late fees.