When I pull up the property record, I get all kinds of information, which is cool, but I don't really know how to decipher it to know if it's worth my time contacting the owners.I went driving around for about an hour the other day and compiled a list of about 20 potentially vacant properties (not much, I know), but now what?

i would also decipher the credit to see what is going on.

Because of that, it is impossible at this point for a new investor to decipher from the word alone how good a company is or how to compare them with another.  

You are just 20 years old, but you deciphered the most IMPORTANT thing most experienced investors NEVER have!!

I was trying to decipher what people wrote here but I found the methodology to be inaccurate if not say very confusing.

Once a property is targeted, I do my best to decipher all the unknowns about the property.

For me, it is hard to decipher who & what is required if you go to the NMLS website.I think that some states are more serious than others. 

I use the BRRRR calc and for the most part I get it, but there seems to be quite a bit of information that I try to decipher the reason of.

I never had the desire to raise any capital in my life (until i dived into my journey and still deciding to decipher the possibilities of such decision based on educated feedback i receive from others)...

You're also right that general real estate information is more or less public, but deciphering what the numbers mean and, moreover, understanding true conditions on the ground is where you find the real value.