The ultimate goal, of course, is to have enough passive income to get out of the rat race, as Robert Kiyosaki would say, and not have to work.My big questions are how do you get started? 

It also depends on what your desired ROI is - as long as you run realistic numbers before making any decisions, it seems that either course of action can work for you.

The new furnace will of course be much smaller.This is not a dealbreaker.

All of this is done with the seller's permission of course, full disclosure to the seller I represent.Not sure if that helps, probably doesn't. 

Going through Real Estate License courses: How much will I use as an Real Estate agent?

You will hear the trains all night long (my own personal experience). 

Those revenues come from great sales training and active customer service. 

We live in a revters town.If I get these homes I am thinking I can do two things.One if course is to rent them out and from the rent save the taxes,insurance, cap ex, vacancies, and repairs included.

I wish I had started going after listings sooner instead of working with only buyers  - Also - as someone else mentioned , I wish I had started with a larger brokerage that had more intense training programs or at least had found a mentor to work with earlier

These 1-4 units of course have fannie/freddie loans available at 4.xx interest rates, 30 yr am, 30 yr term.