After speaking with a local realtor and lender for quite some time to just get some information, they advised me that we are currently in a "buyers market" compared to a "sellers market."

Up until the trustee sale (foreclosure auction), the home is still owned and fully controlled by the home owner.I’m assuming you’re going to be looking at off-market properties (since loan status isn’t something they advertise on the MLS so you likely wouldn’t even know if it was in default if it’s a listed property).So, in that case, you’d just negotiate a purchase agreement with the home owner and then take the contract to your local escrow/title company to open escrow. 

You can start real estate investing, reading resources, familiarizing yourself with the Albany, GA market, setting short-term and long-term goals, preparing financially, building a team, conducting property searches, conducting due diligence, making an offer, managing property, and joining local groups.

From looking at the website’s advertised interest rate (which was 2.75%) my impression was they were just looking at the date the property was purchased and estimating a mortgage payment based on the market rate at that time, 2.87% per Fannie Mae. 

The comparisons I made were within my local market ONLY (South Florida market) so I can't speak to how the data stacks up in other areas/markets. 

Many tenants limit their searches to round numbers; I would drop the rent to $1495 and see what new activity the market generates.

These are good questions for a CPA, not random internet people.

Meanwhile, another local credit union starts to buy the market, but it's not like you'd know it since there are no TV commercials for mobile home park mortgages. 

I'm based out of NH, which means most of my nearby markets tend to be quite expensive.

Taking this extra step ensures veterans have the same opportunity as others to compete in a tight housing market.