Ralph the clause you mentioned was extremely valuable.

That being said, I feel that attending a Black Diamond Group meeting would be extremely beneficial for me.

Seems extremely extremely powerful.Thanks!

QL closing costs are extremely high and when I requested a breakdown of their $20k estimate, the sales associate told me that he cannot send me the breakdown until there is an accepted offer.

This is my favorite option so far, however they appear to be extremely hard to find near Annapolis and the few that are on the market are priced in the $600K-$900K region.Cons: If I did find one, it would probably require me to drive 30-45 minutes to commute to work and enjoy none of the benefits of living close to Annapolis. 

Sometimes we fall into the mindset that we know what others want, but there could be a tenant who would be extremely happy to rent it as is for the higher rate.

I have been using Venmo for the past year and find it extremely easy to collect rents.

Unfortunately, his massive success keeps him extremely busy, and he hasn't much time to mentor me to the degree I'm seeking.

One of my dreams with real estate (after I have more deals to cover the costs) would be to do something along the lines of buy some land, put up a bunch of tiny homes, and rent out at/below cost to help people like homeless veterans get back on their feet. 

Multifamily housing exists in very tiny amounts in our area so it is a very competitive area of the market, even compared to our generally competitive market.