That said, I buy in cash and then renovate appropriately for the area.

All I did was tell the agent to go back and negotiate with his buyers on his pay , if they think you are worth it  then tack it on to the price . 

Example: first you have to try stocks, then you have to learn real estate, then you try a small business, then a medium sized business, then a big business...

Those offers never came, one was supposed to be from an affordable housing nonprofit that had access to 4.5% financing, but they put us on ice for a few months while we waited for their slow board aproval process, and then they had some sort of organizational staffing shakeup and recently told us they couldnt put an offer in.

We closed a few deals but its very tough.. the skill set is that of a private detective.. and then being able to close the deals..

If not, then you need to get one.

depends on the state - as some states allow a loan officer to be a 1099 employee but if you are a W2 then it probably makes it more challenging.What states are you licensed in as we may be looking for some 1099 loan officers. 

So I put years of work into renovating a couple run down buildings to provide apartments for people, did all the work myself and then was laid off my job.Since then I've been pursuing this dream of being self employed before its all over.

If you have plenty of money to live off of now, then stay put.

After you have done a few deals locally, then you could look to expanding into more expensive markets.There are a bunch of classes and mastermind groups out there.