I have been reading books and listening to pod casts for a while now, and want to start taking steps toward getting my first property.

I have closed on two additional 6-unit buildings since then and gave him the business since he bailed me out.The six-unit buildings are in a pod and identical, but the premiums have gone up on each policy by more than 10%. 

Your only going to be able to answer that by attending multiple local REI club meetings, reading books, and listening to pod casts here. 

(At the end, I'll do a loan mod and stick the outstanding balances on the backs of the loans as an interest-free balloon payment)That said, I'm missing out on TONS of opportunities to buy because I can't qualify for a conventional loan.

Is there a bigger pockets "Out of State Investing Guide" or a recommendable pod cast.

Curious how a short sale or loan mod produces that result? 

You will find resources here from blogs to pod casts and forums.

(Mods delete/edit if this is overly sales-y)

However I have been listening to pod cast day in and day out and wanted to pull the trigger.  

This is generally because there may have been a loan mod (or 2 or 3) along the way which changed the loan terms and payment.