Despite his outside employment, he maintained that he was a real estate professional who spent more than 50% of his time and more than 750 hours on real estate activities.

Therefore, I'd probably concentrate using 1/2 of the money to actively pursue deals and use the other 1/2 to invest passively and put food on the table. 

On the other hand, a better fixed up unit, that is maintained by a better maintenance tech and represented by a better leasing agent with more marketing budget allows me to lift rents by $350.

@Jay Hinrichs Regarding holding a single note vs a single house: holding a single house means ownership over the property and an ability to maintain more consistent cash flows.

The engineering concentration has produced some commercial engineering companies  (ADTRAN, etc)Major Employers   - Aerospace/Defense       * Lockheed       * Raytheon       * Boeing       * Northrup Gumman   - Commercial       * ADTRAN       * Schools System       * HospitalAs for path for progress, I would recommend you research where Google Fiber is going in and the South Parkway Extension (http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/index.ssf/2017/0...)The rent/price is okay but I would not expect much appreciation.

The earthquakes do seem to be concentrated in that one city (Irving), so if you decide to look more closely at investing in DFW, I would steer clear of there if you have concerns.

I went there for finance and did a concentration in Real Estate.

If good assets are purchased and maintained you have a much more durable income stream than hotels.

This complex is more well maintained than most in area and in a great location (safety wise, accessible). 

You are right most leveraged ETFs have daily rebalances to maintain equal leverage over the intended investment time-frame, but that doesn't really have any effect on what the value of the ETF is, it's simply adding exposure (or debt) when NAV increases and reducing exposure when it decreases.