Being only 19, I'm almost positive I can turn heads at these meetings and make connections instantly, being young, ambitious, and persistent, I'm sure someone will be willing to mentor me. 

But yep we've got you covered now and we appreciate the help and heads up pointing that out. 

The utilities aren't a wash because you pay for them in your own home, but the tenant pays for them in a rental.Also, the fastest way to scratching your head and saying, "where did the money go" is to NOT include all the "...but a few thousand dollars wouldn’t have change the scenarios outcome sufficiently enough to have changed...".PM me sometime and I'll show you an example of what I mean. 

Changing out a shower head to one of those "rain forest" ones or even one of those shower towers (pretty easy to install) can make a bathroom more impressive. 

Is it cashflow, appreciation, a roof over my head while my tenants help pay my mortgage, etc.

., we will be heading back to court for the additional dmanages.

Sounds like you're headed in the right direction

If I had gone with a traditional or local lender, I may have gotten more of a heads up instead of the mad scramble.

In Michigan and New York, people started believing us when we told them where we were headed, but they were incredulous when we told them we started in Washington.When I started my real estate journey(12 years after my front bike wheel hit the Atlantic,) I wouldn't even tell people about my goals, because I knew they wouldn't believe me.

Obviously you haven't gotten to know me ;-)You could always give each of your tenants a new low-flow shower head for Xmas ... or splurge on new UHET toilets  :-P