Ultimately, I was the highest bidder, but at $51,000 (as opposed to $40,001).

I am not opposed to hard money if it saves me hassle and money. 

Although ideally you can control costs by paying materials directly, I’m not opposed to a small down payment (20-30%) for a larger job which translates to their materials and a setup usually. 

I think this will be a great learning experience as opposed to paying a property manager to take care of a house near your home town.Best of luck!

Also looking at Bucks County, PA. 2) I am not opposed to SFR, but would prefer MFR.

I have about $20,000 liquid that I can tap into from savings, which I would use a portion for the down payment, and my credit score is 710-714 so I'm not opposed to obtaining financing through a local bank or credit union for financing.Also, what additional books, materials, or resources would you recommend that I could read to get myself more familiarized with this form of real estate investing?

The challenge on that is time and accruing the things quickly enough to furnish one (as opposed to picking up pieces and storing them until I pick up the unit).  

Looks like they invest their clients' money entirely in ETFs as opposed to mutual funds, so there's less fees because of that and their ability to serve more people online. 

This will give you a ball park estimate of the viability of renting as opposed to selling.Obviously you will need to know your market rents.

So the offer is in a text message as opposed to on paper?