I have been in this field for a little over 15 years at the time of this post. 

Though there are a lot of things RE agents/rehabbers/wholesalers and etc do wrong in there respected fields not make the actual event wrong.

The problem is, none of us have any experience in this field.

I did a quick search and it looks like there is a county site:http://www.assessor.shelby.tn.us/content.aspxIf that doesn't work call the office and they should be able to tell you the info or send you a copy of the "Field Card" which normally would show the number of families. 

I make great money but I don't want to work for anyone and I'll be throwing my career away.

I used to have friend who is my age but very high up in his career.

I'm new to personal real estate investing, but have familiarity with the field via my full time job (commercial construction banker) as well as study I've done on the side (books, podcasts, etc.).

I'm totally new to the real estate field.  

Agents not having the experience in our field, combined with not having the oversight of professionals held to higher ethical standards (CPMs, GRIs, RMPs, MPMs), will most likely not have your best interest in mind but only that ultimate commission.

The strategy is best described in Joel Greenblatt's fantastic book, and an outstanding practical guide and tool for executing it can be found over at the Magic Diligence website.You can do either (or both) of those using the "leverage" of Options, allowing for substantial upside potential compared to standard stock purchases, with dramatically reduced downside (if you want a no-hype education on Options, Erik Kobayashi-Solomon's book is great).Those with the patience and inclination can indeed use Option trading to make money in any market condition (Wikipedia founder Jimbo Wales, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, and "Black Swan" author Nassim Taleb all spent time -- and made lots and lots of money -- as options traders in their careers).For even more leverage, you could of course do any of the above (and much more) on margin (meaning your brokerage lends you money to do the investment), though that's not something I would ever do personally.Also, if you focus on holding stocks (or options) for at least a year, you benefit from favorable tax treatment of the profits.