Especially don't pay cash without getting an independent appraisal of value.I say this because in my area there is a lot of vacant office space right now so it is very hard to lease up.That could be completely different in your area so I would suggest you find out on your own without involving the agent that may have a vested interest in the sale closing. 

The State Codes and State LLC independent liability shields they have established, and then simply use Federal Procedural Law.

I've been a mechanical engineer for the 6 years since I graduated college, and for a while have had the goal of financial independence by the time I'm 40.

@Ronald Erwin My strategy is looking for those properties that have low rents/vacancy etc and need some work, you do the work and get the rents up or units rented and that is where your cash flow comes in.  Depending

I reached financial independence through the stock market some years ago and am now looking to build up a second income stream through real estate investing.

Independence is compromised when a borrower recommends an appraiser or a person to perform an evaluation.

I was informed that since I am a physician, it would be difficult to prove, in the event of an audit, that I do more hours of work as a real estate professional than I do as a physician.  

The state can & does do audits on Property Manager's bank accounts so this is a great safeguard for you.You can open a separate account that is only used for the purposes of receiving deposits from your Property Manager.

I have $40k in savings that I’m looking to invest to get me on the right track of becoming financially independent.

I'm writing this post to give some type of relief as well as a  road map to those getting started in the business of real estate to look back on and relate to others on their first steps towards financial independence.