Almost done paying off my first property and looking to learn more before growing my portfolio of LTR properties. 

And, the reason why most people sell the property outright is that there is an immediate need for money, an immediate need for your attention to be with your parent, and no time and money to make the rehab needed to tenant ready the property, much less to learn how to successfully landlord. 

I learned that during the cash out refinance process.

They don't, but they'll learn to if they have a decent size portfolio.

Do they offer a nationwide learning forum where you may view videos 24/7 from the company's best agents who train you for free?

Lots of different issues to learn.  

You'll find that most of them are happy to run comps for you and help you learn how to do that on your own as you go. 

They had found a niche in financing the small mill village style houses common in the Upstate. 

Any advice or guidance is greatly appreciated as I begin learning more about the great opportunities that lie in the REI space!!

The best advice I can give is pull the trigger on something that makes sense to you and learn from it.