It can not be used for anything and if the markets turn you are losing your own cash instead of the banks.If you consider the opportunity value of cash at 10%, which is conservative, once you pay off your mortgage of  235K and assuming it appreciates to maybe 280K in 10 years you will then have equity that should be earning $2300/month.If we assume your rents are then 2000K/month you will be losing $300/month before any expenses. 

This was my second flip and the best ROI we have earned to date.

I have a family friend who has helped me get started and suggest I obtain my real estate license and work for her brokerage (part time), so I could earn extra income, save on commissions for future buys, use the mls, etc. 

You will learn and earn while you do it.If you don't want to do that, than consider investing in training.

. :)   I did not post this to discuss my finances nor boast of earnings.

The broker won't be doing much more work on a $500K house than a $100K house, but would earn $15K on the more expensive one....at your price point, the only way the commission would make a difference is if there were several homes that were essentially the same with which yours was competing.

We've been advertising for about 2 weeks and  after screening out several who were obvious they wouldn't be a good match for us for various reasons (bad credit, don't earn enough income, don't want a 12 month lease, etc.) we have our first prospects that look like potential tenants (husband, wife, 2 young children).  

Selling a home is not rocket science, however, that percent that you try to save on listing commission might have been earned back ten fold on price if the property is marketed properly, or on the buyer's appraisal when the savvy agent meets with the appraiser and makes certain the appraiser understands the true value of the home and comps in the area.....or you might save it just with negotiated repairs. 

Account ClosedI would fly out before even making an offer to really understand the area, the neighborhoods of focus and most importantly, put a face to the name with your team and meet as many of them as you can.If you already know the area and feel comfortable with your team, then I don't see a need to fly out.I setup a team in a city and state I had never so much as flown through...and being a control freak, I felt very compelled to spend some time on the ground understanding the area that my hard earned dollars were going to go and the people that were going be partly responsible for ensuring I saw a return on those hard earned dollars.

I've read all the cliches such as "earn as much as you want" and "unlimited potential," and so on.