Hi Jared, I'm in a similar situation and I've found people on this forum to be super helpful.My opinion is when you are so new and inexperienced, it will be very difficult to find a mentor.

I will admit that it was difficult at first to set money aside because all throughout college we barely had enough money to pay our bills and now we both had good jobs and had a significant amount of additional income.

You do it by adding up all your outstanding debt balances related to real estate (mortgages, credit card, etc.) and divide it over the fair market value of the real estate portfolio (including cash dedicated to the portfolio).

Improvements have to balance income potential.

If you currently don't own any rental properties, it may be difficult to find a lender willing to offer a commercial loan without the experience.

I wasn't paying attention to the LTV reduction based on the loan balance. 

@Matt ShieldsNot dead but deal sourcing is becoming more difficult,.

Finding a group this late in the summer can be incredibly difficult.

You need to save more if you are planning on not using an FHA, for reserves at the very least,  You can try owner financing but it will be difficult to find and often will be more expensive than traditional financing especially in the long term.

I need help understanding exactly how this would work out:"Balance between your cash and agreed upon price would be financed at 7.5% with payments of $300 a month."