Ultimately I'd like to get into the investment / real estate field full time.

Welcome to BP Lance, it's the ultimate resource for Investors.

http://ideamensch.com/phil-pustejovsky/You do realize ultimately the work is on you and your wife, right?

Be sure to read through The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing to help you get started.Also - here's a couple articles you might enjoy:The 21 Best Real Estate Investing Books Ever How to Rent Your House: The Definitive Step by Step GuideHow to Be a Landlord: Ten Tips for SuccessFinally -be sure to setup some keyword alerts - especially for "Toronto" so you can jump into local conversations.See you around the forums!

Another push on the legal side deals with "predatory lending" that can apply to a borrower or a lender, the party that initiates the seller financing into any deal.To understand seller financing you must understand conventional financing, the key of successful underwriting and originating a seller financed transactions is to lead a borrower into conventional financing so that the seller financed obligation can ultimately be paid off in the future.Otherwise, the seller financing would have to be fully amortized and paid off to the seller over time.To avoid predatory issues, being an "investor" on either side of a transaction, you need to understand conventional lending accepted practices, just because a seller is financing does not give them any right or privilege to do just anything someone can dream up.Before you can understand RE financing, you need to master the principles of real estate, 90% of those spouting off about financing don't even have a command of RE knowledge, much less financing.There are many strategies that can be done legally with seller financing.

Time to build the foundation below.Check out BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide - A fantastic free book that walks through many of the key topics of real estate investing.Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast - A weekly podcast with interviews and a ton of great advice.

Estate planning is really very specific and personal so you may be able to get some ideas here, but ultimately you will have to sit down with a subject matter expert and work out what is best for you.I plan to revisit my plan every couple of years and make sure it is still set up to accomplish what I want it too.

I first read the Ultimate Beginners Guide to Real Estate Investing, form there i made my decision. 

Ultimately, I'd go with your gut....because you're going to have to trust that.

I ultimately found that the cash flows weren't all that great and I could achieve more or less the same returns in my home town where appreciation is more significant.