To start with, not only will you need to maintain your license, but you will also, most likely, need to join your local, state, & national Realtors association to have access to your MLS.  

I've talked with the three big national 3d party managers (Extra Space, CubeSmart, LifeStorage) and the two big southeast regional players (Universal and Absolute).  

One thing you might want to do before starting is forming some type of corporation or a LLC to keep your personal stuff safe.  

The reason I ask is because there are other markets (locally and nationally) that are easier to cash-flow, yielding much higher ROI's.

Why don't accountants put qualifiers on their statements, like if you are operating as an S corp or if you have income over xxx, they have tricks to save you lots of money. 

There are some things that are essential when you are first starting or before starting.One of those things is forming some type of corporation or a LLC.  

National lenders vs. smaller Memphis lenders.I am a financial analyst and would love to base my decisions solely on numbers.

As visible in many such threads, DFW is a very aggressive market with lot of investors (local, national, international).You can pick several paths for investing - based on your risk tolerance, investment objectives, age etc. 

I also have a masters from CMU in Architecture-Engineering-Construction Management so I've got a hold on scheduling, paying subcontractors, and knowing when they're lying to me :)I currently work out of Chicago (and plan on being here for the long haul) as an engineer/project manager for a large national commercial general contractor and I love what I do but want to expand to do my own thing on the residential side in the short term, with long term aspirations of doing commercial development of my own.

So when you are reviewing national reports keep this in mind.