I was imagining a scenario where I had a 30 year fixed term loan on it and then could continue to ride that loan while seller financing but I understand now that would not be possible for the reasons @Aaron Smith and @Russell Brazil mentioned.

Some of the advantages I see are access to the MLS, ability to see properties quicker and make offers quicker, and the opportunity for continuing education. 

As far as which are best, there are tiers of software based on price, quality, and available features, but truly the best real estate software will be one that is tailored to your business, and that you'll actually use.

The article gets one thing right: Landlords are suffering at the hands of tenants that continually make bad choices.

@Step SthephYou may also want to think about holding onto the property that you live in in your own name for now.You are eligible to exclude up to 250,000(500,000 if married filing jointly) as long as you lived and owned the property for 2 out of 5 years.If you transfer the title to an LLC - you may lose out on the appreciation as you continue to live in it.You have a couple options regarding the other lots.If you don't know contacts or how to develop land - you may want to consider the land outright.If you have experience to develop land - you may want to pursue developing the land and then selling it.option 2 will likely generate more money but also require more work.

I have and will continue to do my own independent research, but any advice from personal experience would be very much appreciated!

But always continue to educate yourself. 

I then joined the Hawaii Air National Guard in 2014 as an older gal and continue to serve humbly as a drill status guardsman.     

Interestingly, I have had a lot of students take my course at the University of Toronto's School of Continuing Studies, after attending a weekend expo, bootcamp, seminar, etc.

Many have posted a few great tips already, that's the cool thing about this forum ;-)That said, I highly recommend using the awesome tools provided here on BP to learn the basics of analysis and underwriting.A few tips to get started and your continued learning:Find and connect with other BP members that are in your area.Set up keyword alerts to be notified of the topics that interest you.Read Beginner’s Guide.Check out BP Podcasts.Find upcoming real estate events and meetups near you.If you'd like to tag someone in the conversation, type @ followed by their name and then select the name of that person that appears below the comments box.