Be honest with them about your goals and timeline, and if they're worth their salt they'll at least give you the basic information you need to plan ahead.A lender can give you a framework for how much money you are likely to qualify for, as well as any steps you'll need to take to get the best rates.

Any deal you walk away from will get picked up by an investor that saw an angle you missed.I'd take rentometer with a grain of salt and I would be using your property analysis to solve for your purchase price versus looking at asking, but there's time for that once you get more comfortable in the analysis process.

I’m located in Utah Salt Lake county and I’d love to hear from local real estate agents and investors.

Plus the Orlando market is cheaper than our market in the salt lake area so your money goes further.  

I am in Salt Lake city and the highest I can get for a duplex is $300,000 which is great but some of the nicer duplexes are $350,000 or higher.

I figured as a college student living near 2 colleges (I will be going to school at the Westminster College, Salt Lake City, which is a short drive from the University of Utah), I will be able to find plenty of year long tenants who are also college students looking for a place to live. 

Most HELOC's are around the 4-5% Variable rate  (currently) and historically are below 8% with only a few points in the last 50 years going above that and with a coming recession generally speaking interest rates typically go down and if you're worth your salt as your investor literally one homes profit in a given year could pay for any interest accumulated.  5.) 

Looking at the sales in Salt Lake County for the last two month in the ($550-$750 range)  the Median sold was February $575,000March $577,000April $582,475What I think is going on are people are worried about jobs so they aren't buying which has dropped the buyer demand to just those who need to buy and sell.

Even as a novice investor I'd estimate my own numbers and take anything you provide with a grain of salt.

Take the good and the bad with grains of salt and make up your own mind.