Is that just a trade off I have to be willing to make?

Also, the goal of the 4-plex was to stabilize income to transition into a new career, which I could now easily do from the amount of appreciation I could realize by selling now.I don't want to make the mistake of getting greedy and missing out on a good time to sell only to see the market take a pullback and have to wait for another exit point.I want to transition into stock trading (I know there's a bunch who would like to bust my chops for that:).

We both have skills that would contribute to this goal.

It can be done, but it takes a lot of work and a little skill. 

They are completely separate skill sets and usually have completely separate legal hurdles to jump.Setting up the phases for financing and your exit strategy will be paramount. 

Not only will you start developing the skills you need to be a good investor, you may also start to develop some relationships with brokers along the way, which will really help you once you start moving in that direction.  

There are always skills to learn like management of money, people, and business operations 3.

Developing the skill of negotiating directly with sellers on off-market properties is one of the best skills you can learn in real estate investing.

A lot of Class C, B- deals are making sense and trading at reasonable CAP Rates right now in the Houston market.

It helps that I am an accountant by trade, but Quickbooks makes it easy if it is set up right.