But in order to get my wife on board she does not want to use any equity out of our Paid Off 1976 4-Bedroom 2-Bath 2100sqft Home in Kingwood, Tx.

Along side that I'm wanting to get in to the buy and hold rental game in a few ~B- neighborhoods.I've never worked with a buying agent before, and they usually seem to be focused either on "homes" or "investments".

utm_source=newsletter- https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/telltale-signs-youre-not-ready-to-invest/- https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/vital-importance-mentor/- https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/get-ready-to-invest/- https://royallegalsolutions.com/get-your-head-in-the-game-four-pro-tips-for-creating-a-winning-real-estate-investing-mindsetYou might want to read and follow these threads: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/630353-advice-to-your-20-year-old-self https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/625324-looking-for-financial-advise-for-getting-started?

What is the end game, what are we striving to? 

There's no such requirement at the federal level, which is where you'd normally encounter excise taxes.As with any business, you should identify what applicable state and local licenses you'll need to run everything above board considering the facts and circumstances of the business.

I backed into it and did not do the steps required to avoid big dollar losses.. if I knew then what I know now..I could be so far ahead of the game.

It's a mind game that is hard to beat with being so new.

And are city and town boards also only open to their residents? 

(If the sellers on board ofc) Or would this also take money from going into the sellers pocket as well as the bank?

They'll want you to have some skin in the game (~15% of purchase + reno) and you may have trouble if you've never done a flip or BRRRR before.My gut tells me this doesn't work as a BRRRR, rent is too low.