To practice (which includes your own deals) your license must be held by a brokerage. 2.

But before even looking for a mentor, I would first go and start reading everything and anything that includes "Real Estate Investing" in the title.

The dodd frank on the federal level only mentions that if you charge points or any other upfront finance charge, then it is included in the total finance charge and affects your total interest rate (total) of the loan. 

I love the idea of 1 loan to include the rehab cost's.

So let me decipher this, if i understand this, you have someone that wants to be an onsite manager but in return he wants some income, low rent on his apartment along with utilities and cable included ?

I realize I cannot simply buy a house and immediately start renting it out, yet I am very happy at the place I'm currently living ($600/month ALL utilities included).

welcome to BP @JD Thornock , just make sure you do your due diligence here in texas, cause you can get burned here to, not including the summer heat

FYI - The quotes do include wind (hurricane) coverage which is a necessity around here.Are these quotes typical?

I owned 40 rentals which included apartments, duplexes, multi-families and single family homes. 

I am upfront my down payment comes from a cash out and no one has rejected me yet.Counting all your rental income to offset current mortgages is key (including the cashed out, now mortgaged duplex).