Sounds like you already have a good grasp on our market.  

I know I need to have a better grasp of my finances if I really want to play this game.  

Based on the questions you are asking I would highly recommend teaming up with someone for your first few deals so you can get a good grasp of the process. 

I have been listening to Bigger Pockets (often listening multiple times to really grasp the process) and reading books on real estate investing for the last six months.

I'm looking to pour alot more into tax liens but I'm trying to really get a good grasp on all of the in's and out's before I do.

Success is almost in my grasp."

The BS rate/terms you were quoted that brought you to H Bank aren't going to happen, period, end of story, done.It's usually the case that you are best served by working with the most knowledgeable local lender who can communicate clearly, and not any of the 600,000 technically licensed/registered smoke blowers (yup, really, at this point 0.5% of the US Population have an NMLS or NMLSR, which is freaking insane) that have been doing refis only for the last 5 years (until rates just went up) who don't know how to read a purchase contract or do a purchase mortgage (most of these refi jockeys will be out of the industry within a year or so, once they are done grasping at straws and promising non-deliverables to homebuyers).

It sounds like you've got a decent grasp on what you're aspiring to do with wholesaling.

I think I have a decent grasp on how to calculate all the expenses and simulating potential gross income, including potential cash flow.

At the same time, there are folks on this site, particularly in different markets, that would not touch my 8 cap with a 10 foot pole.This book reads more like a text book than some of the other real estate books out there, but is very good for getting a basic grasp on how to look at basic metrics to analyze a deal: What every real estate investor needs to know about cashflow by Frank Gallinelli.