In an effort to educate myself i started an online real estate licensing course (found a groupon for pretty cheap), but the more I listen and learn I feel like I may be burning my time and money.  

We've seen several of these out in my/your area and they've let the local/volunteer fire departments use them to train and they actually burn it down for you...

Essentially, you're making the assumption that not every house is going to burn down and need a pay out.Similarly, has anyone attempted to make the assumption that not every house is going to be vacant once a year, or have the need for repairs every month or few months.  

Naturally, I don't want to burn any bridges because he's military and a bad review from him could hurt my rating as a rental property for military families.

Accepting a 6 month bribe in advance rent is a major mistake that many landlords have been burned on.

They little club had over 200 members (do the math over 2 million in $$$) that paid the ones on the bottom level got maybe one deal (that they had probably passed on, not enough fat for them) and the training that’s it!

That is exactly what it is intended to do to prevent your wiring from burning and catching your building on fire.

I've been burned out of state, but now I'm getting back into it.  

The first time was from this happening and the guest burned out the pump so we needed to replace it.

I am very burned out on the idea of running a "real estate brokerage" and feel ready to shift my focus to my original dream which got me interested in becoming a real estate agent in the first place; fix n flips, buy-rehab-hold, wholesaling, new construction and maybe help a buyer or seller here and there when the opportunity arises.Is there anyone out there facing the similar problems or maybe have good advice on marketing, success stories or advice in general?