I hope to meet new and seasoned investors to learn as much as possible.

Need to be in a good location and have good management; otherwise, you will lose money. 

I was hoping to hear some different ideas on how to help me get to my next property faster and different creative ways to continue.

Hopefully when interest rates go down and rents go up in the next 2-10 years, we can refinance and have better cash-flow.Option 2: Pay with cash right now (~1.3M) and with a ~7% cash-on-cash return we conservatively net ~7-8K/month and properties appreciate with inflation.

I hope that this was helpful for you and good luck!

In most cases, the owner/possible seller would want an option fee paid up front to entice them to entering into the option to purchase agreement, so assuming that is the case, would enter into the agreement with a pretty firm plan to purchase and not lose that option fee. 

My investment strategy is focused on long-term equity through MTR/LTR, which will hopefully result in cash flow over time.

I'm hoping to start off by rolling it into an LLC after closing but have never done anything like this before.If anyone has any advice or can point me in the direction of a good Real Estate CPA, I'd greatly appreciate the help.Thanks in advance

Hope this helps! 

Hope all is well,Pretty recent to the bp world and loving it so far.