I been doing my homework in the real estate world for about a year now and I think I'm ready to make my first purchase.

Because having cash on hand to show the bank that "Hey, I've done my homework and I think this is a good deal.

My guess is that this "opportunity" has been presented to you by a Wholesaler who is disguising the little detail of already having it under contract for probably no more than $30k, so that when you put in a counter-offer of say $40-45k, they would "reluctantly" accept.I suggest you do more homework on this.

I would just say do your homework and find and use professionals that you trust.

Right now I just rely on my calculator (back-of-the-napkin math) when I'm in the field, so I certainly could benefit from something with preloaded assumptions that I can just plug a few #s into and have a full proforma in seconds.

The math doesn't seem to add up with house and rent prices in my area anyway. 

All of my properties have modest cash flow, but I also target growing areas that have appreciation potential.Do the math and you will quickly see the impact of declining property values.

Pretty simple math, 500 square foot is a whole addition to others, some buy 2400 sf house and adding 500-700sf just to hit higher arv.

Agents will not do any homework like look at the public records or check the permit status, but they want to be paid as if they did more than open the front door. 

(not saying you can get 0 down but just for math's sake) Wouldn't it make sense to just finance a house even if you're only there for a year or two?