I would suggest that you continue to keep your weaknesses in sight and make a conscious effort to analyze your deals from a rational POV.

I’m more concerned with long term wealth than immediate cash flow.Wanted to include my thoughts as it seems most of the responses are unanimously for 2 houses instead of 1 because everyone likes to repeat the old rationalization for a duplex over a single family without realizing the obvious drawbacks.Again, I’m spending in general and don’t know the specific numbers of the two options.

But many of this distressed situations have distressed sellers that do not think rationally (if they did then I don't imagine they would be living in a shell of a property). 

This will lead to making bad choices in properties, and rationalizing bad deals into good ones.Also, don't put a date on any goal for making a deal. 

Rational bank vs credit union vs national agency?

Remember your DTI ration can include the income from the other rentals, you just have to find the right lender that will include those Moneys in order to qualify. 

But, then when I really start to think rationally, it seems like such a long shot..As of right now I am in search of a local realtor that is investor friendly/smart.

if we had regular bouts of major appreciation i could rationalize this a bit but in okc i just feel that lots of folks are getting in over their heads right now.  

All of the above is true and also the potential whataboutism of owners who hear of sales nearby for exorbitant prices, and then simply will not part with their properties for anything less than 50% more than what they are worth despite all reason and research otherwise, you see that a lot, even in people who are otherwise very savvy business people and very rational.

And...you had better start believing that a lot of real estate investors lose money and many investors' egos cause them to inflate their profits even when their profits are negative.I will sit on my investment cash until the end of time when the risk-to-reward ration is not highly favorable.Overall, I will partner with someone like my woman friend who is super passive and since the day she invested in 2001 she never asked me one question about the book keeping, never visited one property and never asked one question about more than $2.5 million worth of remodeling that was done to the 3 buildings.