This allows the owner to “write off” the value of disposed assets immediately, rather than continuing to depreciate them.

My advice would be to find a mentor (the right investor-focused agent can be great at this), continue analyzing deals, run them by your mentor, and then make offers when a deal meets your buy criteria.

That is how I've operated for years, well before the NAR fiasco and as agents, we have always been advised from referring to status quo, standard, typical, etc when it relates to commissions.It continues to amaze me how many buyers/investors believe the agent value is finding them "deals."

So talk to your bank and insurer before continuing. 

I continued paying what I had paid before, with the additional money purely going to principal.The recast to a lower amount was purely to reduce my committed monthly payment to a point that I could get my property to cash flow if I had to move out (job loss, etc).

I would love to continue learning and eventually using Real estate investing to climb out of my hole.

Reese's "free" course is really "first lesson free", then you are directed to a paywall to continue.  

Or is it better to capture all the rental income while continuing to pay my current rent at $500/month?

It has been profitable for us but competition has risen in recent years so we continually work to refresh our places and marketing approaches.

I will continue to do my research and try to find a CPA that handles Texas and has a lower minimum I think.