My husband and I are hoping to look into buying this spring.

Unpopular opinion since I know you're trying to buy the next property, but keeping your equity in a deal is gold.

If the costs for home buying goes up for first time home buyers then the results will probably be that less starter homes will be moving in the market unless non profits and the sort step up.

Generally most fix flippers are buying at 80%-82% in our market. 

You can also buy lists off websites and get lists off FB for a cost as well. 

On the buy side you can snag deals and have leverage so it helps with buying deals right. 

Investment Info:Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment in Zurich.

I have purchased the following books:ABCs of Buying Rental Property The ABCs of Property Management The ABCs of Real Estate Investing The Advanced Guide to Real Estate InvestingThe Book on Investing in Real Estate with No (and Low) Money DownWhat order do you recommend reading them in?

Part of me is thinking "It's dumb or even ridiculous to be buying new properties at a peak like this." 

Duplex can always add additional units via the ADU laws. 8) Related to number 1, purchasing a property with an existing ADU is cheaper than buying a property and adding an ADU.