My situation is that I wonder if I can use being a real estate agent as a strategy to save on taxes by creating a solo 401k.

I also would look into the MTR strategy.

Our strategy is to buy and sell once the builder completes selling all the houses in the community.The base price of the house they're selling is $420K, but the model house, with all upgrades, is priced at $450K.

The exit strategy will be buy and hold.

Do you think successful RE entrepreneurs need to chase small time investors money, mentor newbies and write books about their winning strategies in an already over competitive / saturated market?

What strategies would you offer for someone starting their first STR?

You really need to get advice on a tax strategy so you don't run afoul of the IRS.We had to do work on our lake house, but I put it up for guests asap while we were working on it.

BiggerPockets has helped me tremendously with respect to:- growing my local, regional and nationwide network- learning about different markets and strategies- finding potential partners and dealsI know you'll get a ton of value from BP as well!

and if that is the case you'd need a strategy to pay off the balloon.and you need to see whether the seller would even be interested in financing. 

I know this is not a typical strategy and goes against the grain to most, but it's safe, cash flows from day 1, and you have the ability to get better deals when you're that liquid.