I’m not set on anything so far, so I’d appreciate any advice you have on getting in the game!

The current game is flipping which is a job (stop flipping and you stop making money) or more patience than I have.  

Yes, having tenants pay ACH via a Tenant Portal software is best, but not all will cooperate and some will play games that result in NSF charges.We allow tenants to deposit cash/check/money order directly at our bank into our account.Many Class C & D tenants have challenges adapting to unfamiliar ways to pay and is often not worth the hassle (and possible evictions) to get them to change:(

A large part of me feels guilty for playing in this win-lose game that the establishlent has set up that makes people rich while at the same time sidelining others.

Start with Strategy by Dave Meyerhttps://a.co/d/8u2CtKyI read this book in Sept and it seriously changed the game for me.

The man selling said he knows he will lose money on the deal as the property already appraised for $560,000 but would love to get a young investor like myself into the game since his son did not end up sticking with it.

But my understanding is that it's a numbers game.

It's good to hear that you want to play the long-term hold game as that is how you'll ultimately build equity.  

And I generally require a sponsor that has full real estate cycle experience with little to no money lost, low leverage, high skin in the game and reasonable fees and promotes.However, other investors will look at these deals as bad/too boring for them because they are more aggressive and not concerned about the risks of default, refinance, interest rates changing etc.

A prominent MLO in the northeast was recently charged and stripped of his license for playing this game with his borrowers.Also, everything is reviewed by underwriting.