Lessons learned?

Good luck, it is not easy to invest in because, among other things, you need a whole lot of knowledge, there are huge barriers to entry, and unless you literally know someone with experience, it is difficult to really learn. 

I hope to be able to apply what I learn here to building my own income-generating real estate portfolio and eventually creating passive income for myself so I can spend more time with my kiddo!

Finding a good partner/mentor can help you a lot by cutting your learning curve tremendously.

This happened to me on my very first deal and I learned a valuable lesson about how much to share with others and when to share it.Be patient and begin learning about real estate from those who are doing it near you. 

I am considering going to the NPLA event in Atlantic City for 3 reasons: https://nplaconference.com/june-2024-event-registration/1 - Looking for partnering with a hard money lender who may want to expand into Panama to do "Harder Money Lending". 2 - Looking for servicing software3 - Learn more about the hard money lending business specifically in Florida and the US is generalHave any of you been to an event organized by the NPLA?

I've learned a lot in the past 2 years. 

I will gladly take any suggestions like meet ups, learning websites, books, podcasts, or even meet with other people who started real-estate investing to talk while I buy them coffee or dinner. 

Looking forward to learning and growing with the BP community.

If you are focused, learn your market and learn to market, there are no barriers to entry.