You need to be prepared to advocate for yourself to keep things moving through the process.You must either be in the target demographic (earning less than median income for MSA) OR be buying in a census tract that is eligible (based on the income demographics of the tract).In a competitive market, getting a seller to accept your offer, with the NACA qualification letter, rather than a traditional preapproval letter, can be a challenge.Having said that..

The game plan was to fund with a commercial loan upfront, and reinvest all of the initial cash flow back into the property so that I could ultimately pull my capital out.

Definitely swings the numbers a little bit, but the extra ~$500 / year for a SFH or duplex shouldn't change the game too much.

I'm maxed out DTI wise, so buying another property the traditional way (via a bank) will no longer be an option until my tax return reflects my income.

And then you are just then paying a traditional mortgage from there on out, right?

Along side that I'm wanting to get in to the buy and hold rental game in a few ~B- neighborhoods.I've never worked with a buying agent before, and they usually seem to be focused either on "homes" or "investments".

utm_source=newsletter- https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/telltale-signs-youre-not-ready-to-invest/- https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/vital-importance-mentor/- https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/get-ready-to-invest/- https://royallegalsolutions.com/get-your-head-in-the-game-four-pro-tips-for-creating-a-winning-real-estate-investing-mindsetYou might want to read and follow these threads: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/630353-advice-to-your-20-year-old-self https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/625324-looking-for-financial-advise-for-getting-started?

What is the end game, what are we striving to? 

It is nice to have as a backup or to make cash purchases if the property is not able to qualify for traditional financing. 

I backed into it and did not do the steps required to avoid big dollar losses.. if I knew then what I know now..I could be so far ahead of the game.