Think of the process as being similar to working toward getting a college degree. 

I got a college degree in business that emphasized real estate.  

I feel that market value is as you say the price that is willingly paid for anything in any degree of repair or finish... now figuring out before the sale the market value is the difficult venture...

I love the idea of property management and the hands on opportunity, but at the same time wondering if the pay level is what I should be aiming for with a degree, and more importantly, what are the future career paths.

Through out my experience in the military, getting a degree in biology, fatherhood, and working as a pharmacy technician, I never thought that I would end up on the verge of flipping houses!

starter rent in any city = the least stable.. the lower rents are generally were the properties are cheaper.. so just a rule of thumb not a law or anything.Also the 2% rule and the other rules were born here on BP out of the Great recession and are not germane anymore in most markets that are rebounding and recovering.. you have a new set of investors who started after 2009 who don't have a perspective other than the screaming deals they got in 09 to 2011   which are not reality today and may never be again at least until the next Global financial crisis.

SO be sure you look into that because it will determine to a degree how long it takes to sell a property.

The more involved (to a degree) the more you make. 

There are several sites that have varying degrees of accuracy from one market to the next.

I've heard there are something like 4 underground sources of water in the area with varying degrees of quality.