I have read several times that fear and mistake making was pretty normal.  

I have made so many mistakes throughout this process that after closing I'll be taking a loss.    

Sure there are going to be times when you make a mistake or look like a dumbie but that's how you learn. 

So performance for now is really, in my opinion, not very indicative of anything except the skill or lack thereof of being able to make sure they don’t lose money from stupid mistakes and/or get enough volume without hurting their lending standards.

One mistake and you could lose 60 days.

It was a mistake to rent to your friends, but you probably have or currently are learning this now.Unless your properties are held in a 501(c)3, your real estate investing is a for profit business.  

We're hoping that we can manage to get tenants to turn over in the summer, where we can spend a couple of weeks down in DC combining a little vacation in the place with fixing things up and finding a new tenant).Of course I made some mistakes already, too, but I think I'll get away with them this time...So after getting my feet wet, I've been reading about REI, and we do have cash / equity (our primary home is just about paid off) to stuff with, so now I'm considering to get into it in a non-accidental way, and it seems more prudent to look at our local area (NH seacost), but it turns out I have little idea about the purchase/rental market here, and it doesn't seem all that easy to find out (in NoVA, at least, there's a very active market, while here prices seem to fluctuate wildly for no obvious (to me) reason.

Its a great start to research some strategies and paths other investors have taken and you can learn from their success and their mistakes along the way.

I can relate to not wanting to make a big mistake early in your investing career and taking a major set back.

You can correct mistakes, but can't change it to make it look like you paid more, if that is what you are asking.Prospects can see this information, but not your investment into the property.