You need it and you will make mistakes.

And yet, you might be surprised how much foolishness you’ll uncover if you peel back some onions… one thing that I learnt from all these syndication mistake that is that before joining "such private club" is that "I thought I know most of the risk but I found out any investment project (even outside typical syndication) can fail to some unknown circumstances"......from plumbing to comps ............ there're just so many that i don't know. 

I'm just afraid I am making another mistake and will waste another $5k.  

The LL is in the wrong and should pay for their mistake. 

Would it be a mistake to not take advantage of the low money down loans for a first time home buyers primary residence, and instead attempt to invest out of state in a traditional investment property?

Sure, but you made a few critical mistakes.1).

Recommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

You are mistaking gross possible income with strategy.

Reality is you won't learn to flip yourself without making some pretty big mistakes, mistakes that cost $, maybe all you're $.

As  you're probably already thinking as your reading, I made a huge mistake.