Wise of you to get a head start with your networking and planning.

I cash out refinanced my primary in 2019 right at the start of lockdowns with the idea of buying a new home and rent my current.

I used it for 5 seconds last Fall, and actually enjoyed it, but I just didn't put in the time to get benefit and didn't want to keep paying for it and not put in the work, so I canceled it and started using Prop Wire to skip trace since it's super inexpensive just for that feature since I was getting leads through other free sources. 

I want to branch off from being an employee to starting my own portfolio of residential managed properties.

First off congrats on setting yourself up to be in great start position at a young age!

I'm very involved with Lifestyles Unlimited, but will try to answer your questions.Let's start with what does it mean to be a passive investor.  

I live in Southern California where I own a couple of investment properties; now I'm interested on starting to invest in Arizona.

Great place to start, but would recommend having an attorney look it over to include property specific or owner specific requirements just to CYA.Best of luck

When I started managing single-family rental homes back in 2009 in Augusta, GA, there was less variance in the industry (and also less services available).

I know real estate agents make less but wondering if it would be smart to maybe start as a part time agent on weekend if that is a thing?