Diving into the deep no turning back

This is new to me and the wife as we partner into the REI world, mixed emotions or nerves are high. We have spoken to a few HML's and decided on which one to go with for now. We are looking a few houses in our area and looking for what we would think is a good house to start with just to get a house under our belt and gain some experience and knowledge. We are in the process of obtaining the prequel letter so that when we find the house we can do our due diligence and if all is right then place the offer. I do know that time is important and being able to get through this process down to the minimum would be very beneficial in this line of work. Any suggestions or advice is welcomed... Have a good evening everyone.