I am unsure of your overall finances but what I did was similar and cashed out my 401k, sold my vehicles and leased and was able to map out 7 properties in 2 years.

The upfront fees to buy in to a DST are very heavy.

Depends on your budget, your contractors ability, your target ROI, do you want to deal with BS municipalities and heavy inspection processes, do you want newer SFR, are you ok with 100+ year old SFR, and so on. 

Initially I was told that the bowing down of the ceiling was caused by the heavy coats of spackle that were put on it - likely to cover up water stains from a previous leak.

I also really want to be able to give more Time, Talent and Treasure to organizations that utilize baseball as a vehicle for social impact.I have begun my real estate education with the usual reading of books/posts and listening of podcasts.

Sometimes it doesn't make sense depending on your mix of alternative investment vehicles. 

I know it sounds lazy but I'd rather avoid the heavy lifting of starting a mastermind group (I've done it once it is a LOT of work). 

And I also try to encourage constructive criticism *in the form of a message, not a public review* - again, I don't want to be heavy-handed about it but the language provides a hint (this works pretty well, too!).  

But as you are realizing, vacancies, repairs and particularly large capex items which are unavoidable at some point will eat that “phantom” cash flow you thought you had.I own tracked heavy equipment, and every few years you’ve got a $25k track replacement bill.....you've got to calculate those in “as you go”, before they occur.

Half a block away is a cross street with 37,000 vehicles per day.