I am just starting to learn about real estate investment and would like to approach it like everything else; I work in finance and analyze credit (quality and risk) for a living, so I like to be thorough and really know my numbers (particularly the cost side of the equation).

@Nicholas Morgan You start with $0 and end up with a cash pile of $5,500 and a cash flow of $78/month - an ROI of infinity is by far the best return you can get.

Repeat, repeat and repeat.The secret is by compounding your initial seed money by using it to infinity, but NEVER , ever spending it. 

However, 5 years in, there's a good likelihood that your rents have increased $100-$300/m without a turn needed because a married couple working in finance doesn't want to pay a moving company every 2 years, and their golden retriever (that also earned you a pet fee and pet rent) loves the fenced in backyard.

I have an MBA w/ a concentration in finance so I've always been a paper asset guy and below is what I personally do, but am no way qualified to give financial advice so do your research first and check with a qualified financial professional if you have one.  

So you have a choice to either believe these assumptions are true and never invest or you can take the jump and find out for yourself.I work a full-time job in Finance and I manage a 4-unit property that I live in.

Everyone knows diversification is lesson one in finance and investments.

This is akin to a measurement used in finance called a moving average. 

I don't know any highly successful investors, who are self made, that did not attend college, I do know some successful people who did not attend college.My undergrad was in finance/accounting and economics, later an MBA.

Though I am a real estate(small) investor I have a background in Finance & Accounting but I am not a CPA.