Or better yet - find a successful  investor and try to work with them in some entry  level to learn the business.   

Renovating the kitchen and creating an open/modern feel in the living space of this house really puts in on a different level.

Renovating the kitchen and creating an open/modern feel in the living space of this house really puts in on a different level.

My thought is did the power company put that pole in before the cut, or after.If it was after, perhaps the pole goes extra deep, down through the hilly area and below the ground level of the driveway.If it was before the cut, will a retaining wall be enough to hold back the leverage of a big storm, or will you have a downed pole and a bunch of scattered blocks.Leverage is a powerful thing.Cost to move the pole might be less than a wall, but you still have a septic tank in that hillside.If that starts to wash out, it will be unpleasant, but maybe you could move it somewhere else if that happens.Just my 2 cents. 

Credit is in the very good level and we were approved for 275k back in February when we were originally looking at homes to buy.

I would ask this question: why bother getting licensed and using an agency at all, given your apparent knowledge & skill level? 

Then use whatever tools you have at your disposal (Skip trace, looking for numbers on LLC docs, looking for their number on MLS if it's an owner/agent, send post cards to their tax mailing address, etc) to get numbers for the managing membersHave a script you can use to call them and ask them if they are buying, what they're buying, price points, rehab level, neighborhoods, etc.The good thing about this strategy, although it's a lot of work, is that you are connecting with actual buyers who have actually recently closed deals

I realize there are many levels to tracking and what is considered income (eg. capital gain, payments that are both principal and interest and is interest really only considered income where the principal is the capital investment).

Without knowing your income level, your tax history, your real estate portfolio, it would be impossible to help you here. 

Do they rise to the level of the tenant being able to withhold rent?