@Phil PatCreate your path/experience.

Neighbourhoods, cities, states, countries, asset classes all rise and fall in cycles.

What is the easiest path to get started in commercial real estate?

They do use the swamp coolers in the SW which aren't very effective in the more humid parts of the country. 

(There are plenty of end investors that would take advantage of that seller ignorance as well, which is why listing on the market with an agent is the best case scenario and offloading a property directly to a wholesaler or an end investor is the least preferred path for a seller.)Following the law and acting ethically are not always the same action.

I'm more concerned with discovering a new career path and networking than making a lot of money at the moment, although money is always nice.

Either path you take you will need 150k plus to close on a deal like you presented.

First post and hopefully this site will steer us to a path of successful real estate investors.A quick few facts about this house: a large house (4+bedrooms/1.5 baths with central air: a perk in this section of neighborhood) located in a small low-middle income town outside a large city in the Northeast that is projected to provide a +cash flow for years to come. 

Lastly, my goal is to either to buy a condo that allows me to STR or single family home that I can house hack occasionally when I'm in the country.

Does it matter if your lender is local or across the country?