@Ahmad Hijazi, @Jay Hinrichs, @Ben Leybovich I don't usually preach books, but Tony Robbins' "MONEY: Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom" has some interesting sections where he discusses the definition of "financial freedom".

I am reading and planning to get in the game.

What is critical to do before a lot of this though is develop a game plan or investment strategy that fits your goals and overall intentions when working the field of real estate in general.  

I am looking forward to engaging in some great discussions, learning a ton, and making some new friends in the business.

Real estate is a cash intensive game and successful investors always run out of their own money at some point.

Present your game plan and what skills you bring to the table (good researcher, social person, marketer, etc), then ask the broker what he brings to the table - Training?

While there's potentially more upside with equity, debt and preferred equity deals feel more stable.There's actually quite a few players in the game at this point.Fundrise.com has just launched two new "eREITs" that provides diversification among several properties.RealtyShares.com is another good one.  

Should anyone from the South Texas area wish to arrange a Cash Flow 101 game, I would gladly be willing to setup a game at a local venue to chat and learn about our investing habits.  

If you are ONLY getting $4k/yr long term historical average on a $200k house, that is 2%, so definitely not the right time or place to play that game. coastal SoCal historical average (going back 40 years) is around 6% ... with 20% down (5-to-1 leverage) that is a 30% average annual return; that is the example I use because that is the example I know, not sure about Oregon but suspect it may be better than the 2% in your example. 

Hello, my name is Morgan my husband and I are new to the real estate game and are currently trying to find a good " investor friendly" title company.