Here is what I've learned following interest rates for a long time...If you listen carefully to the experts, they are wrong 50% of the time. 

Now I was hooked and instantly my research led me to biggerpockets where it seemed like I listened to Brandon talk for months straight without ever turning off the podcast.

I listened to the BP podcast with the SC attorney.

You might've already read/listened to it, but The House Hacking Strategy book is phenonmenal to begin learning all of the info about house hacking

So my first piece of advice would be to listen closely to the professionals who do this every day for a living.  

We just need to learn how to listen to the song and be patiendGino

I have been listening to a real estate podcast (haven't started BiggerPockets Pod yet), and bought How to Invest in Real Estate from Brandon Turner and Josh Dorkin (so far it's been a great read).

Listen to the podcasts!

Keep listening and learning, and please continue to let us know how things turn out.Oh, and if you don’t get to buy this property, you can (after the fact) ask the agent (politely and respectfully) why they think your offer was not the successful offer.

Always listen to experts who have no bias in their opinions.