I have purchased multiple audible books such as Real Estate by the Numbers, Start with Strategy, The Book for Rental Property, The Book on Investing in Real Estate with No (and Low) Money Down, and now I am reading Finding and Funding Great Deals.

Be sure they are out before you do, but the tenants often do not have the funds to deposit/move. 

Were you able to get funded?

Otherwise, you won't have the extra funds necessary to cover the rising costs of goods and services in the future.What causes rents (and prices) to increase?

If employer doesnt match, might as well do a standard ira if you qualify.

(Looking for something in my spare time to bring funds in to help grease the gears in the beginning of the real estate journey.)

It sounds like there are five strategies, and the first one is essentially inserting yourself into a deal by providing the funds for an earnest money deposit for someone like a wholesaler.

I've never needed to do it and Florida may be different, but one party opens the escrow account, terms are agreed upon by both parties, funds are deposited, and escrows sends you the agreed upon amount every month. 

The bank will sometimes take the excess funds (difference between redemption amount and winning bid) as a immediate cash benefit on their books and write off the loan.  

Use your funds to convert the 2-bedroom units into 3-bedrooms to boost rental income.