Again, the BiggerPockets store has some books on this topic, or you can learn about it by watching podcasts, reading blogs, and interacting on the forum.

I'll say 1000 times, I'm so glad I listened to BP for years before doing this, or the stupid hangups would have me jumping off a cliff.

I want to know if there is anything I can do right now that will help me in becoming a realtor in the future.

If all you are doing is just sitting and waiting for tapes to come to you, you will eventually find some deals, but it will take a lot longer and you will have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find the princes. 

I'm a 26 year old from Long Island hoping to acquire my first rental property by the end of the year.

As Michael mentioned you just need to respond to the IRS and state this is what you're doing.

When I do it at 20% down, I can only find negative cashflow, so I could be looking in the wrong spot, or I need to put more down, or I am missing something all together.I have read that making a 8% return or higher is what to look for, and I can find break even.

But if you do have a house that sits in expansive soils and are susceptible to shrinking and expanding they can put pressure on the basement walls (exacerbated by frost/thaw cycles) and cause them to crack horizontally.

You'll never see a dime of it, but it meets your legal obligation.3.

Banks do not like them.