I’m also looking into starting the process to get a real estate license and would like to discuss some of the pain points, general insights, and just some overall advice for that process.Thank you in advance for your time and can’t wait to connect.

Property sales are tricky too, because the gain is increased by the deprecation you've taken since you owned it, so the actual gain could be a rude awakening compared to what your expectation was and that's a problem because when I was in college (roughly 100 years ago) , my old Psychology professor taught us that "expectations are pre-planned resentments.Its been a great year for sellers.

Understanding human psychology and emotions will help you manage your business.

As recommended earlier, @Russell Brazil is extremely skilled in both real estate as well in the investment side, do have a convo with him.I'm from Arlington, ended up buying in Reston, then eventually moved to Florida....I likely cannot afford to move back to Arlington (certainly not to the neighborhood in which my grandparents lived), so I feel your pain.

For contractors, it's a pain because they don't get paid until work is done.

Adding the drywall layer will make all your doors and doorways a pain even if you're replacing every window.

I can imagine trying to get through is a pain, I appreciate it 

Refi costs will be $3k + pain and suffering. 

Present a problem, build the problem up to a pain point, and then offer the solution that solves the client's pain.  

I'm not trying to be a pain and trying to state it without looking like a troll(very hard on the internet sometimes), but what I was saying is defining hard money is hard, and being licensed is not 100% necessary depending on location.