I really want the house, but at the very least I do not want to lose all the money I have spent already.  

@Jasmine Cotes , I still think your best bet is reaching out to mortgage brokers and spent some time loan shopping -- it's a great way to learn too. 

They appear to have been opened with a box cutter, missing the letters and no stamps from the post office.

She went into detail about the closing options and spent time with me. 

From the leases and addenda, move-in condition forms & walk-throughs to letters authorizing cable/satellite/internet installs, and new PO Boxes new tenants are time consuming.  

Even so, BP is a huge benefit for me and our business, and I feel that it is THE online community for real estate investors right now, especially the newer folks whose alternative would be the guru courses, etc.If you're interested in my perspectives on BP, I'd be happy to tell you why I've spent hundreds of hours over the past 2 years in here helping people, most of whom will never pay me a dime...  

If your PMI on a 300,000 house is $200 a month and you have to pay it for 5 years before refinancing or selling, you've spent  $12,000 for PMI.  

But I was also born and raised in the area, but have spent a few years outside of it in San Antonio and Tallahassee, FL.I'm kind of surprised that they would now be limited, since the layoffs have really slowed since 2015 and earlier this year. 

Do you depreciate what you spent to get the property ready and write off the expenses to make it rent ready?

I spent the last few months educating myself via books, articles, blogs, forums, and podcast.