I feel now is the time to dive in to make my first deal and get paid.

Before diving into a second / third rental property, I've committed to waiting 12 months to better understand what the true ROI is on my money.

I'm sorry for digging deeper on your leadership deal, but it's so intriguing to me.

That being said, we would need to know the offer price on the property to evaluate the surface before digging deeper into financing options, assuming primary the analysis makes sense.

I think it's great you want to dive in and get started in real estate.

Also, since buying the REO with an AS-IS contract, once I put my deposit down are there any contingencies to get me out if I find out there's a deeper problem with it that i'm currently unaware of?

I am an 18 year old in college, deeper aren't in need of advice to kick start my dream!

Ideally, I would find something that needs more work and buy at a deeper discount but it looks like that will be tough to come by in the area I am moving to.  

I'd talk with someone who's familiar about the tax burdens you might face as a foreign national investing in the USA before you dive in. 

If you haven't gotten into it already, check out the podcasts, set up keyword alerts for topics/areas of interest, and dive into the forums for lots of great information.