It is extremely difficult to scale, is unpredictable, and doesn't hold up well long term.

Being a new landlord is unpredictable and can be a lot of work. 

Lake Worth seems to be filled with small multi-families but I've heard it's hard to find/ keep good tenants due to the LW utility system which supposedly has unpredictable service outages and fluctuating costs. 

One must be careful and not be late returning the money or a taxable event will occur.Dan, what you are referring to is called "60-day rollover" and the use of those funds for real estate project can be very dangerous, because REI can sometimes be unpredictable and if you are not able to deposit those funds into a qualified plan within 60-days it will be considered premature distribution and therefore taxes and penalties would apply, resulting in loss of up to 50% of the amount of distribution in some cases (depending on your tax bracket). 

A professional tenant is a tenant that doesn't own their own home.. so just about covers anyone that's renting,, Even the so called best tenant can turn into a unpredictable nightmare..

People can do the most unpredictable things fall victim to their psychosis.

My assumption is that these things are very unpredictable (could last another 2 years could last another 50) is that correct?

Real Estate Investing is not like buying Bitcoin and waiting for it to pop to Sell at an unpredictable Profit.

There are calculators on BP and other places you can practice with to get comfortable with analyzing properties so when you are ready, its not so daunting.I actually specialize in STR in the Orlando area and that is a whole nother conversation (which I'm happy to have) The cash flow is far more unpredictable than a steady long term rental, but the rewards can also be quite a bit better. 

Your initial plan may be doable although highly stressful when dealing with ongoing unpredictable costs you have no savings to cover.