Due to the nature of the business, I found it extremely difficult to get a SBA loan for it. 

Just by nature of having to source new deals on your own requires a tremendous amount of work.

It could also potentially be an interesting second home option if you set it out in a little more secluded area away from the city where people could have a little space and access to nature etc..I would be interested to hear if anyone has come up with a model for something like this that could be profitable.

One of the first 3 rules of real estate investing is always buy for cash flow never for natural appreciation.

So if you sell when you leave, natural appreciation will likely not be sufficient to offset the closing costs, meaning you may end up losing money on the deal.Above, you had mentioned worse case scenario being you break even. 

So I have been helping a new agent in SC/NC who is just starting out and has been frustrated with the lack of control he can get and being ordered around by buyers and sellers.so it was fun for me to dust off some of my techniques that I used in the 70s and mid 80s when I did street level sales.. and were taught to me by some of the best salesmen in the world who sold in the 50s and 60s.. there is a system.. and most get into this business ( sales be it wholesaling or real estate brokerage) do every thing to get in the business but have no clue how to interact with buyers sellers and no sales techniques.. if they are going to hire a guru they really should be hiring a sales technique guru that is money well spent.. 

Right now I work in a dirty, dangerous environment that is hazardous to health, so I want to transition into a new career and I really like the idea of commission based sale, love real estate, and plan on investing in the future I figure becoming a Realtor is the natural choice.

The more you actually do, the more personal your interactions, and the more you step out of your comfort zone, the more likely you are to succeed.

@Dylan ArvesonIt's natural for people to want to push the market but often it backfires if they push too hard.

@Nathan G. natural gas service, in Philly, is provided by the Philadelphia Gas Works which is a publicly owned utility service.