The nice thing about being an agent, though, is that you're able to start working on that career without having to leave another.

I have enough in life and business to worry about to have one more thing to do.I'm sure other options can be just as easy, but it's nice that it's a service tailored to renters and landlords. 

Two methods you should look into more is "House Hacking" and Owner Financing.

Coming from the Midwest with a relatively low-paying job I wouldn't have enough cash to invest using traditional methods.

Got a nice note from some of them.

I’ve actually spoke to him once and he was a super nice guy and wicked helpful. 

With a family transaction the family dynamics come into play.Even if you agree on a price, if it turns out that you sell them five or ten years from now for a nice profit, is someone going to think you own them a piece of that? 

Doing a syndication is expensive for the first round, that's why it's nice to have a few people you trust to form the LLC with you, and you can try out the process of raising money and meeting investor demands.If you don't have that kind of time, then I recommend investing in someone else's project.

There are a lot easier methods to get ahead of the curve to buy properties, before bank pulls the rug out from under the owner and auction it off.

My goal is to build a nice income to live from in 10 years but if there are ways to tax shelter the income for longer that is fine too.