I'm confident in my ability to run numbers.  

Plus, as stated before, my current company will pay for me to get the degree, as long as I finish within the next 2 years.

At CA prices, that’s a hefty pill to swallow and limits my scale ability.

One that can sell the loans on the secondary market, hold the loans or also has the ability to work as  broker to find you other products.

With this strategy, you are getting some degree of cash flow day one, which can protect your principal in the event of some downturn in the market.

It all depends on your goals, your resources, what market you’re in and your experience level and ability to pull it off.

Unless I'm mistaken (& please correct me if I am), removing the ability for a landlord to screen problem tenants would flood the market with problem tenants, thus increasing the eviction rate.

This will make a statement, and you can vet them simply by their ability to walk you through the process.

Statistically speaking, you have a better chance of financial success with a college degree.  

If you want the ability to return on a whim, I'd suggest doing month to month leases for all of your tenants.