I have read books at the library about real estate investing, stocks, and entrepreneurship etc. 

For a stock market analogy, I'm more of a dividend investor who likes slow constant returns as opposed to a growth investor who endures the peaks and valleys of overall return so your comment about not worrying about jumping into the "hot" market is fairly spot on. 

I typically like to get at least $300 (the minimum) in monthly cash flow and no less than 12% ROI but aim for 15% when you consider that the average stock market return over 40 years has a return of 7%-12, of course this can change for your area and even so, what deals you get.

I'm glad to hear you're interested in turnkey - you'll find a lot of very strong opinions about it here, but if you work with someone you trust and make sure to do very thorough due diligence when finding that provider (which means a lot of research and a lot of questions) then it can absolutely be one of the best ways to generate passive income - like the Blue Chip dividend stocks of REI ;)Regarding your question about cash purchases, it really comes down to what your priorities are.

And it's 100 degrees and humid out there, so that was pretty surprising to me.We also recently stocked our pond with fish.  

I use Stock Building Supply on San Fernando Rd in Glassell Park (LA).  

Account Closed thanks, i feel like im missing out on doing more. i want to buy muti family buy and hold, and have a large portfolio of rentals and end goal own a massive building with commercial space as well. i am waiting till the stock market hits a bad bump before i invest a little in the market for a long term.

Folks in the financial planning business should encourage their clients to consider real estate investments and ownership of small, local businesses.Continually touting only the stock market (Individual stocks, mutual funds, bond products, derivatives, etc.) is getting old."

While I have felt I could take some risk in the stock market, I often felt real estate investing was too risky for me.  

As far as learning through those investments, I'm not sure it would give you any great insight.I personally prefer REITs to CF but if your time horizon is that short you're better off not getting into the stock price volatility of a REIT stock.