I worked my way through college as a teller at Pnc bank for 5 years, which gave me a a solid financial knowledge foundation.

Here's my plan:I want to be financially independent by selling my personal residence and investing the proceeds to pay my living expenses.If I net 180k from the sale and use 10k toward the downpayment on my next residence, I'll have 170k left to invest.

You never want to start looking at properties that are ultimately going to be out of your price range, so a pre-approval helps to get you focused financially.

Unfortunately , lots of newbies get stuck at the startup/education phase and never progress beyond listening to podcasts and reading  a few forum posts ... break that trend and take action consistently... 

I’m in the USA only because I want invest in real estate and achieve financial freedom...

The podcasts are excellent and its great you are educating yourself.

That would be the best financial bang for your buck.

It helps you narrow down the massive amount of information on the site.Don't get sucked into paying for education until you have done a good bit of self education.

Might not be worth it.It doesn't sounds like making the financial investment for upgrades whether you choose to sell or rent also makes sense.I'd cut and bail, take your money and do something a little better with it.

My podcast co-host Liz Faircloth and I are looking to interview successful women who invest in Real Estate to understand their secret sauce to live a financially free and balanced life.