I’m a beginner at real estate investing and i’m Interested in getting started in the near future, by way of buy and hold. 

For two reasons:1) you’ll gain valuable landlord experience which will go a long way with a lender in he future. 2) you’ll build equity which will you can use to leverage future deals. 

I need some help getting from my current spot to living self sustaining and below my means.

In future, it might really pay to consider the benefits of buying/living in a fourplex.Thank you for your service.

I need some help getting from my current spot to living self sustaining and below my means.

Acquiring property management companies these days is a challenge and you will find out that even if you have a large check book, you are essentially buying someone's identity and future (in their eyes). 

Just have a higher security deposit for next time to try and offset if this happens again in the future. 

In the future, take a page from the lawyers' playbook.

I had to take that leap of faith toward my future now that I'm a firm believer in real estate.

For those not familiar with these things, they are self sustained log cabins or yurts, located pretty far off the beaten path.