Then again, I am in the insurance industry and I understand how that works.

That is a unicorn as the lenders in the industry underwrite properties in such a way that even investment grade tenants are 30% down.

I've been in the industry for 6 years as a PM, Maintenance Director, Vacation Rental Management, etc. in Denver, CO, and Breckenridge, CO.

The entire travel and hotel industry will be in pain for a while.

It sounds like the RE industry got shut out on a technicality that could probably be removed or clarified if we caused a big enough uproar with our senators and representatives. 

Some of the popular markets have either declining or stagnant populations and jobs with old rust belt industries and infrastructure.

I deal with industrial.

What are some of the "anchor" industries/businesses that attract folks to the Chattanooga area?

I use Zoho CRM for my investing business since it's industry leading, completely customizable, and under constant development to stay ahead of the feature trends.For my agent business, kvCORE is an all-in-one CRM & Lead Generation platform provided for free by my brokerage.

Creativity, problem solving, and ingenuity will lead to great wealth and success in real estate.2) Relationships: Real Estate is still a very old-fashioned industry in some way.