I was fortunate that most of the expenses I had could be trimmed without any real impact to quality of life (no medical bills, no children, etc).

I’m going to go against the grain and say you should learn how to find an off market deal.The method will depend on budget and preference, but once you realize if you buy good enough deals you don’t need down payments that’s a game changer.  

I also had a friend who had a 3bed 2bath with a house that was lower quality than mine and rented his rooms for 750 a room, covering his mortgage.To touch on appreciation, it does happen in Baltimore.

What is the easiest and fastest method to remove remaining paint?

He has a YouTube channel where he goes over this method. 

Great tenants are easy to find if you are providing a quality product in an area that people want to be. 

I am in no rush and want to take this slow and methodically.

All I'm saying is you don't know what you haven't done, so you really can't say you've done it all.The most important things you learn by just doing is what not to do since that method will generate more mistakes than not. 

What’s decreasing basis in the BRRR method and any examples would be a good help as well.

Look to talk to someone with insight on the matter.Recently watched the video of Rafael talking about making around $40k/month doing the arbitrage method.