Therefore, I have been trying to study up on techniques used to make good offers and over come objections. 

I have studied both and Section 8 is a lot easier.Yes, Section 8 is intended to help with the issue of available housing for low income people so absolutely its not designed to compete with your Class A rentals.

I've been studying for a while and see investing as a cycle, times of high activity (chasing the deal) and times of latency (allowing the deal to mature).

When you have a duplex and tenants on both sides stay for ten years, it almost guarantees that something isn't right.I would study your market and determine the value of your rental, because I bet you are losing money every month.

I will start work with EY as an auditor in the fall and have recently begun studying for the CPA exam.  

In fact, a couple of recent studies have shown that working with a broker typically saves about $10,000 on a residential mortgage.

I’m most impressed with the fact that you studied real estate and real estate markets for a year before investing; that you scanned the possibilities, chose what you considered the best opportunity, and went all in.  

I studied RE development and investment for my MBA, I am the building inspector for the town where I live and I worked as a contractor before switching to only working on my own deals.

Best to study these and do the correct due diligence beforehand so you are not disappointed in an investment.

https://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news/study-reveals-....Not sure BP will allow that link to post, if not just google " 10000 saved using a broker vs direct lender" and you can find the article.On the flip side, there are some banks and credit unions that could offer products that they do not allow to be brokered.