At that point, it being just a proposal, nothing was verified, but assuming all was true, I had a decent grasp on the numbers.

Outside of having money or access to it which it sounds like you have a grasp on, you want to decide on a strategy and then see if the market you have chosen is a good fit for that strategy because if it isn't you will be just spinning your wheels. 

I live in South East Texas, and have been trying to get a good grasp of the basics.

(The whole credit business is a timely endeavor.)Once you get a grasp on what constitutes a good credit score and you start implementing goals to make that score better, then you should take some time and figure out what it is that you want to do in the real estate world.

But they can be harder to gain that initial trust.You're on the right path and I think that once you really delve into the realm of loans, once you get out and start talking to loan officers at various lending institutions, you'll quickly get a grasp on the vernacular and the concepts.

Either way, I would try and come to a compromise if it is a property that checks the boxes for you, because I know in my market in Connecticut it is very rare to find a seller that will even entertain seller financing primarily because they can't grasp the concept and/or they need the money from the sale. 

Grasp a decent foundation and learn the language of what your getting into...

Now you just have to get a better grasp on the analysis part and honestly that's not that difficult.  

Part of me is looking into a deal analyzer, but I want a firm grasp on what’s happening behind the scenes before I blindly input numbers.

I told myself I wanted to have a firm grasp on IRR and have been researching online.