I use National Tenant Network to run a tenant score and recommendation.

First step is always to cut the water source and fix the leak asap.

Welcome to the world of real estate investing, and congratulations on taking the first steps toward learning about this exciting space!

The best defense against rats entering your property is to seal off all entry points (holes, cracks in walls), remove food sources (dirty dishes, food left in trash cans), and water sources (like leaks). 

Often times, their approval processes are slow.Credit Unions - Their member structure also subsidizes their financial structure so they can also be a source of low-cost financing.

Visit the property and learn about various renovation stages, gain insights from our experienced investors / speaker, and learn strategies for evaluating deals, managing budgets, and maximizing ROI.What to expect:Property walkthroughsReview before photos and discuss transformation plansDive into real deal numbers—costs, profits, and challengesNetworking with industry prosOpen Q&A session to ask anything about the process

This is true for me anyway. 

I'm broke as a joke but I have good credit how do I get started 

Use this time to study at the university and continue to study real estate.

If you offer more $ for the property than the all cash offers AND you appear to the seller to be highly qualified in the method you are using for sourcing the payment, at some point your offer will be more appealing than the all cash offers.I don't understand why you would consider a 1031 for another property in two years.