Typically this means they will take longer to close, may not have all the information for the companies they work with, and most hard money brokers get their money by taking an existing product and adding extra points to pay their fee.What is your investor success rate?

As long as you are in a decent area and do proper screening, you will be fine in NJ. 

Having the books properly set up for the first time ever will help me get all the deductions I’m entitled to.

The reason is that one wants to be able to properly avail themselves to the laws and protection of the corresponding state where the property lies.

Trying to balance proper due diligence against my desire to just acquire a bunch of mediocre units!  

No need to pay big bucks for this. 

,While no investment is completely passive, proper real estate investing should be relatively boring.You asked about the process and major considerations.

Just ideas, talk to your CPA to make sure you are doing it properly. 

And how do I roll this into a cheaper mortgage (my dti would be too bad for another conventional).Maybe a lender would be able to consider the electric "working" with the proper inspection?

Once you master it, its an awesome tool.Like the other members say, you can easily find it online, however, i strongly recommend you watch the videos (that come with the calculator when you buy it for a lil over $100) so you can learn how to use it properly.