I would like to be able to move with some kind of experience or training under my belt in the hopes of that contributing to finding a job with a brokerage.

Do you have a best friend or beloved family member in the midwest or south?

Plus keep in mind most house inspectors go through under 40 hours of training.

Will guidance from a local mentor help (paid training)? 

If you take the Marc train you could go from Penn Station. 

Training that fits your schedule that works at your speed and a good mentoring program is something you should look for in a broker.I’ve been a realtor in NJ for 11 years and the past 4 years I’ve been with the same brokerage.I work on a nationwide investor-friendly team, (teaching agents to become investor-friendly and to become investors themselves).Working with investors allows you to work with fewer clients and do more deals.

I had a huge struggle with the first lender of my property in Escondido and then did some research and found one that was way more flexible and worked several times faster than the first one.In one of the training events I attended years ago, someone said something really important that I feel applies here as a reminder: "We are running the show (regardless if you do your investing with an LLC or not).

The underwriter and the loan officer all use the same set of training guidelines and reference matrix sheets for the most part. 

I did expense thousand of dollars on the various platforms to get trained.

These are professionals with additional training and a stricter code of ethics.