Engage your customers on social media as much as possible.

Transition fully to RE and quit my W2 job. [  ]At this step I would have to very confident in my career choice and have a way to replace my income completely from my job.I would then use my active income to fund living expenses and personal investments.7.

A real estate investor, who we funded loans for in the past, confided in me that he was preparing to do a new property acquisition using a friend’s private funds.

The capital gain tax would be on the difference between the sale price and the purchase price (and depreciation).So say you bought it for $50K and are selling it for $400K you are potentially paying taxes on $350K of gain, plus whatever depreciation you took.If you buy another property worth at least $400K you should avoid the taxes, but you need to engage a 1031 professional like @Bill Exeter or @Dave Foster who posted above before you actually sell the property, otherwise it's too late and you will have to pay the taxes.

Below are some quick links to get engaged on this site. http://www.biggerpockets.com/startherehttp://www.biggerpockets.com/meethttps://www.biggerpockets.com/alertsHow to Use @Mentions on BiggerPocketshttps://www.biggerpockets.com/ruleshttps://www.biggerpockets.com/termshttps://www.biggerpockets.com/inviteshttps://www.biggerpockets.com/perkshttps://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/categoriesREI books suggested by BPershttp://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/04/14/best-real-estate-books/?

If you plan to go this route please engage a competent lawyer to setup your corporation to meet your ultimate goals.

The more learning you do, the more confidence you will have.  

It makes it hard to decipher what's worth engaging in.

I think you're on the right track with 1st engaging the HOA for some type of exemption.

Be confident in your research, make offers, and accept rejection.