I continue to be shocked at how many smart people fall for this level of chicanery. 

The goal would be to hire on 1-3 trusted friends in that area to manage my first property.

The Duplex is in the Parkridge area of Knoxville and is currently two 1/1 on the main level, with a stair case down to the basement that used to be a two car garage.

Any income you show after repairs, depreciation and mortgage interest is taxed at your income bracket at the personal level.

Granted that was a bubble but is it unreasonable to assume that they "should" get back to at least those levels in the next couple years?

Then you have a fun job of shimming the studs to the right level.

This includes not just insurance, but also corporate structure and trusts.

Banks also tell me I'd be a bad investment if I were to get a non-legal job in Florida to supplement my income while growing my new firm, since I'd be working far beneath my education level. 

Trust me ...You start hanging out doing handyman repairs around their unit when they are gone they will surely find more little problems for you to apply your magic on !

My experience has been that brokerages are mostly made up of a bunch of independent agents who all have their own approaches and investment level in their business.