We have been pushing for more licensing to remove the one time realtor / managers from screwing up our industry and profession of choice.  

Do you guys think it might eventually expand to that area as well once all the other areas start getting too popular/expensive for renters?

This is a lifestyle choice - do you want to continue managing an asset or want something closer to "mailbox money"?  

There was a poll on this a few months back.The traditional route-- 10-25% down loan with personal guarantee--was popular as was moving on from a primary residence/house hack: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/25/topics/390...Holds true for me.

Is everyone else making bad investment choices or am I just being too conservative?

Just so you know - you can leave/switch brokerages pretty easily so don't worry if you make a choice and then decided to go a different route too.

If after analyzing many different properties in your area you find that it is hard to reach your goal, you have several choices.1.  

It'd help to look up the demographics of the target area and combine that information with the types of homes being sold and use all of that information to make your choice. 2.

But there are not many good choices in this seller market, either buying REO required a lot of work, or investing out-of-state.

;) MFR purchases are really popular right now and perfect for buy and hold.