Over the past 3-4 months not only has "his guy" mentored me, showed me dozens of properties, given me on-the-spot rehab estimates, showed me what to look for, taught me countless lessons, instilled confidence, and motivated me... we have also become pretty good friends. 

Well known areas are Indianapolis, KC, Memphis, Cleveland, Cincinnati, countless more.I just view the primary as another property to be judiciously managed.David

Most sellers will say NO the 1st time... but countless of times... my guys have gotten the deal because of follow up...

Beyond that, there are countless other considerations.    

Coming from the world of finance, he said that is how it is done in his industry.My concern is that on a loss of $20k for him, I have turned down work and lost money, plus put in countless hours into a flip without pay.

Even when lockouts are finally ordered, it's not at all uncommon for them to be canceled, countless times. 

The links Brandon provided are very useful and there are countless threads with people in a similar position as you.  

I've looked at countless Youtube videos, read countless books/articles but I would still love a little more guidance.

I don't show up anywhere on title and that's the way I like it.I highly recommend you not waste your time with properties worth less than $100K and spending countless hours trolling Craigslist building a pretender buyers list.

It's the cheapest and easiest investment you will make in your real estate career and it will open up a lot of options.You will have access to the local MLS which is more up to date and has more powerful search tools than most RE websites.You will get a 3% discount on every property you purchase.When a new property comes on the market you will have instant access instead of waiting on your agent.You don't have to hassle with a Agent when it comes to writing countless offers..