After college, I decided to enter the world of audit at an accounting firm.

Again depending on locations it could run nicely with school years for universities, colleges, tourism.

>>>>What @James Wise said<<<< Get a GOOD Licenced Electrician in there ASAP...And some of those old houses have no fire stops inside the walls, meaning they go up in flames very, very quickly.Make sure the electrician "Pulls the needed Permits" and is licenced and has good references.

None of this work needs permits.

Is the permit as big of a deal as building new home?

In terms of your schooling, obviously you do not need a college degree to succeed in this world.

I am also looking to start doing STR in Chicago through rental arbitrage and i am aware I will need permit/license for each unit to list it on Airbnb.

I'm looking at a large (19 unit) multifamily property for college housing to buy and hold that is 750k and I love the idea of getting creative with financing but as I was thinking about hard money I realized that with my salary I would only qualify for a loan up to 500k.

These apartments are in a great location, inside a small college town, but they need a tremendous amount of work.

I have been interested in real estate since college and have done a lot of research between watching Youtube videos, listening to podcasts like Bigger Pockets, and practicing real estate sales as an agent.