If I had to pay an extra 1-2k to have it taken care of by a PM (which I will hire anyway since I don't want to manage the property myself - I'll be a first time landlord) I would rather go that route.Any advice / tips / feedback would be greatly appreciated.

But, it comes down to your risk aversion: many people in your position (1-8 rentals) have their rentals attached to their Homeowners insurance and then have a personal umbrella for extra protection.  

Looking for advice on where to start and how realistic is it to think I can start earning close to my current salary within the next two years in real estate? 

Flippers and rehabbers get a stable source of funding that can scale (in theory) infinitely as they grow, and investors get a chance to earn stable, decently high returns - with limited downside in the case of well-collateralized land or development projects.Just my observations of the industry so far.

@Kenneth Jackson,About the only option you have is to learn how to team up with money partners, whether that's private lenders, other investors or hard-money.Read up on self-directed retirement accounts and how folks can use them to take more active control of their earnings on their retirement savings.When you can show folks how you can get them 12% to 20% return on their money versus the beating their savings has taken on Wall Street - 50% to 90% losses, you'll soon have more money available than you can find deals to do.There was a post in another thread about the biggest mistakes newbies make.

@Samantha Klein Income earned from flipping would fall under self-employed.

If push comes to shove I could 'create' some money for an extra month or two.

He'd have to earn it.

So here I am; I'm new to this community and have an interest in real estate earning potential.

To that end, I was just talking with my wife, and we both agree that, right now, our two best options are A) go through FHA, if possible, and get a two-family home (we'd be first time buyers), that way we can live in one side and have the other pay our mortgage, and we'll be able to save what we would have spent on rent toward a decent down payment, and B) spend some time REALLY learning how to identify darn good deals, so that, even if we can't buy them, we can wholesale them and earn a little money that we can, again, sock away toward a significant down payment.