At a 500-700k budget, I'd look at a 2-4 unit property in places like East Nashville, Colorado Springs, Raleigh-Durham, Richmond, VA, maybe Salt Lake City (though that budget might not cut it there).

Russ has a lot of creative solutions and uses established case law to work in ways that some of the more "cut & dry" intermediaries do not.

Also this property has a small 8 acre tract cut out of it with residential homes on it.So my question, what is my first step to get this property looked at to see its potential.

The closest I've come to your situation is similar to one in which a tenant wanted to cut the grass, for which he wanted to get a reduction in his rent.

Prime is currently 7.75% and likely to drop by 1-3% during this fed cut cycle over the next 1-3 years.  

For books I would recommend theseSee if you can get a copy of The Millionnaire Real Estate Investor by Keller.The Slight Edge and Atomic Habits too.Thank you and I will add those to my list, atomic habits is coming up soon after a few others in line. 

I could lose my entire investment 400 times (and get 400 practice sessions in 400 days) for the price of the education, and if I couldn't learn the ropes well before I completed 400 deals in a single year, I'm not cut out for that business.

Or she just cuts you out of the deal somehow and doesn't give you a penny and she's dating a mixed martial artist bouncer now so what are you gonna do, etc.

This gives me a considerable edge in my market because many landlords and property managers insist on an application prior to a unit showing.

It's important to understand the difference, and I'd recommend sticking with the REIT with depreciation advantages.The Tax Cut and Jobs Act (TCJA) includes a 199A deduction and applies to certain income from pass-through entities (including REIT dividends) and allows individuals to take the 20% deduction against REIT dividend distributions that yields an effective tax rate of 29.6% or 37% (80% for upper bracket filers).