New to the idea that I'd even have a shot at REI. 

I occasionally would get extremely motivated about investing in real estate, but would often be shot down by others or my own limiting thoughts.

That's your best shot at a sale.Good luck in your pursuit of commercial.  

It appears this Is sure shot way of staking up on properties!

Given your youth and lack of experience in anything and everything, you should look for a brokerage that can put you on a sales team where you are responsible for certain tasks and you feed off the success of the entire team, usually led by a hot-shot that knows how to sell.

I might give that a shot.

You could always apply for rezoning, but that’s a long shot and cities are not usually open to spot zoning.

This would be my first real estate deal, and I'm first in line to take a shot at buying it, and at a discount.

Get screen shot of bank balance, pull tenant screen fir fico and evictions, verify job income.

I'm sure those have probably shot up to $300k+ by now but yea, I would own in the Poconos 100% even though I've never visited in person.