I just want to hit singles consistently and never strike out. 

I'll agree with others and the observation that you will  need to analyze and make lots of offers before you strike gold.

This isn't a strike against the Realtor - I put a property under contract last night that the client chose.

Gross Income: 1,600Taxes/Ins: -266HOA: -330Vacancy/Maint. (15%)-270NOI = 734CAP if you pay 140k = 6.3%CAP if you pay 120k = 7.3%CAP if you pay 100k = 8.8%This does not strike me as a deal.

When the deal strikes, I will let the BP community know and hopefully inspire someone else to keep on keepin' on and not to give up.

You have three strikes against you from a HML's perspective:1) Its your residence.

You definately do not need to own a home first before getting into real estate investing.I'd say overall, unless you have a job that produces tons of money and you have a hefty stock piling of cash, focus on areas that you can use to generate chunks of cash...either wholesaling or flipping. it will help you learn the market better, spot good deals, and who knows....maybe one of the great deals will strike your fancy enough to move into...all while you make chunks of cash in real estate.When the time is right....then you can get into some multiunits. 

As she approached her maternity leave one repsonse from you that strikes me right now was: "HI Ashley > I like Estes.

If you can network and strike up relationships (and maintain them!)

I would want to receive at least about $10-15K of non-refundable option consideration, all of which I'd apply toward their purchase.I'd also set the option strike price to be about 10% above current ARV, giving myself more room on the backend if the market does better than expected.For decision criteria, use whatever you would normally and run the numbers.